


Among Wolves

by LucisLilFallen



Category: Far Cry 5
Genre: Blood, F/M, Injury, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Smut, Violence, slowish burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2019-10-07 01:54:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 40,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17356730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LucisLilFallen/pseuds/LucisLilFallen
Summary: Having been raised by wolves, Emma was use to being without the company of other humans. She preferred it. But now, after meeting one Jacob Seed, those feelings were changing, and feelings for the eldest Seed were forming.





	1. Meeting One Another

A howl pierced the silent night air, quickly fallowed by another, and another. Soon, an entire pack of wolves were howling at the half moon, their low howls beautiful and mournful. One stood out however, higher in pitch and unable to last quite as long as the others. It didn’t seem to bother the wolves though, instead it simply made them howl all the more. This serenade didn’t last long however, and soon the sound of padded paws bounding through the thick pine forest was all that could be heard. Again, one sound stood out, the sound of two legs running to keep up.

Not far behind the pack of five wolves, ran a woman dressed in worn combat boots and fatigues, the furs of an elk wrapped around her shoulders as a type of shawl. With dirty hair cut short, choppy and clearly done with the edge of a blade, and piercing green eyes, the woman panted softly as she tried to keep up. A few of the wolves doubled back, yipping at her playfully before they ran ahead again. She mimicked the sound, laughing all the while. On her back a quiver made of moose hide swayed back and forth, the modern carbon arrows clattering around inside. With a compound bow in hand, she slowed to a jog, then a walk before crouching down, her eyes focused on the deer her wolf brethren were hunting. 

Watching in awe as the pack worked together to take the buck down, she quickly raced up to them so that she could grab a small share of the kill. After the alphas had their fill, the others quickly dove in, as did the woman. With a knife in hand, she was quick to cut a hunk of meat from the carcass before retreating back to let the wolves have at it. She’d have to cook the meat, but at least she had it for later. It was only after the wolves had finished the deer off did they move again, the woman now in the lead as they quickly made their way through the forest once more.

Coming up to an old, abandoned cabin that had long seen better days, the woman was quick to push the door open, and make her way towards the wooden stove that sat in the corner. Starting a fire, she waited until it burned hot before throwing the venison into a pan on the stove. The meat was bloodied still, but it would have to do until she could hunt for herself and bleed the animal out. Rummaging around the cabin, she was quick to find an apple, several carrots, and a can of beans in her stash that she would have for her meal as well.

Sitting with the wolves surrounding her, the woman was quick to eat her meal, smiling when her belly was finally full and content. Then, with heavy eyes, she curled up with the warm, furry bodies around her and sighed. Her cabin wasn’t much and lacked many essential things that people often wanted, but it had all she needed, and was home to her and her wolves. Her family. Glancing around, she eyed all the things she had, all stolen and looted from homes and stores she had managed to break into. With that odd cult taking over, it wasn’t a hard thing for her to do anymore which was something she was grateful for. Pursing her lips, she reached out and grabbed hold of a nearby book, opening it to the page she had marked before silently reading in the soft glow of the fire nearby.

Of all the things she had stolen during her life in the wild, her favorite had to be books. Any book she could get her hands on, she’d eagerly tuck away in her backpack so that she could enjoy it in the lazy moments of her life. While she’d take just about any book, she preferred those involving history, dictionaries, and any medical book she could find. Living with wolves meant injuries, and she needed to know how to treat them in order to survive since hospitals were out of the question. She’d managed to live in the wilds since childhood, and she’d continue to do so until she took her last breath.

A soft whine next to her took her attention away from the book in her hand, an encyclopedia, to the white colored wolf beside her. With a smile, she sat her book aside, and laid down with her head on the wolf’s back. 

“Good night, Venus,” the woman whispered, her voice soft and melodious.

 

When morning came, the wolves were first to rise, the woman slowly, and reluctantly, fallowing suit. While the wolves left the cabin in search for food, the woman stayed behind and made herself a meal of a peanut butter sandwich, another apple, and a box of grape juice. She was running out of supplies, and knew sooner than later she’d have to sneak closer to civilization in order to nab some essentials.

After dressing and shoving her boots on, she quickly took inventory of what was left in her supplies, and made a list of things she needed to find. It wasn’t much, more food was the main thing, but she was also running low on medical supplies. She’d recently sliced open her left calf, something that left rather large scar, and had needed to use most of what she had on hand. No big deal. Loot a few houses and she’d be set. Maybe she could even find a bunker to look through.

“I’ll be back,” she stated softly to her wolves, earning soft whines in response. “You know you can’t come with,” she sighed while slinging a large backpack over her shoulders, squashing her quiver between it and her back. “You especially, Pax,” she said pointedly at the tawny wolf sitting near the cabin door. She was still just a pup, barely even over a year old, and was still rather reckless. The last thing the small pack needed was Pax getting caught, or worse. “Again, I’ll be back…” she reassured her family before heading out. She knew the wolves would go out on their own to hunt and would be just fine without her for the day, so she had no reason to worry about them.

Trekking through the forest for nearly an hour and a half, she finally made it to a road, something she eyed warily as a car drove past. She hated those things. They were so loud, and she’d seen on too many occasions animals being struck by them. Staying hidden in the trees, she made her way along the road until she found her first house to loot. It seemed empty, an odd symbol spray painted on the front of it, but it would suit her just fine if it had anything left in it. That cult seemed to be taking more and more with them each day. Briefly she wondered just what they were doing, but decided it best to leave it alone. Too much trouble.

Only after scoping out the house did she quietly creep in, her eyes widening when she saw just how ransacked the place had been. Cursing quietly to herself, she made her way towards the kitchen and breathed a sigh of relief when she noticed some canned food had been left behind. She was quick to scoop up everything she could, especially the canned fruit, and place it in her backpack. Then, after raiding the kitchen, she made her way through the rest of the house and picked up a few more items; a few new shirts and pairs of pants she thought might fit, a first aid kit, and even a few new books. Perfect. 

With one house down, she was quick to make her way to two more before calling it a day. Her pack was stuffed full with enough provisions to last her at least a week, as well as a few new toys such as a new hunting knife and more arrows. After heaving her bag onto her back again, she slowly made the trek back home, tired and hungry from her busy day.

Half way through the forest, she paused, her eyes locked on a large buck grazing not far from her. Quick to crouch, she readied her bow, nocking an arrow after pulling it from her quiver as quietly as she could. She needed some meat to cure, and this buck would do just fine. Drawing back her arrow, she aimed and held her breath before firing. She watched as the arrow flew through the air silently and hit its mark, the deer kicking out in shock before it began to limp away.

\----------

Hunting for Jacob was something he could do just to get away from it all. Enjoy a few hours of peace and quiet before having to return to reality. It was one of his ways of relaxing, and was an easy way to fill his stomach with something good tasting.

Having been tracking a large buck for an hour now, Jacob was now crouched and readying his rifle, sites on said buck. This big boy would give him plenty of meat for a while. Enough to even share with his brothers, too. With his finger on the trigger, he held his breath and aimed, ready to shoot. That is, until an arrow suddenly hit his mark. With narrowed eyes, he watched through his scope as the buck slowly fled, a woman with an elk fur shawl quickly fallowing it. 

Lowering his rifle, he was quick to stand and quietly make his way after the woman. She didn’t look like resistance, but she certainly wasn’t part of the cult, and he was going to find out just who she was. He was silent as he crept up on the woman, who was now kneeling over the dead buck field dressing it, and watched her closely. Definitely not cult, so who was she and why had he never seen her before? Hope County wasn’t that big, and everyone knew who everyone else was…

\---------- 

While dressing the deer, the woman suddenly felt eyes on her and paused, scanning the area around her carefully. Not seeing anything in front of her, she slowly turned her head to look over her shoulder, her eyes narrowed as she noticed a large figure crouched not too far from her in the thicket. Immediately becoming defensive, the woman leapt to her feet and unsheathed the knife strapped to her thigh, eyes trained on the figure. 

“Come out!” she ordered, watching as the figure slowly stood and came forward. A man was soon in the small clearing with her, his sharp blue eyes looking her over with caution and interest. He was tall, incredibly so, with blazing red hair and scars covering his arms and face. Something akin to a rash seemed to cover his arms as well, and she was briefly left wondering what he had gotten into. “Who are you?”

“Could ask you the same thing,” he replied simply, his voice deep and smooth. A pleasant timbre that nearly had her melting where she stood. Shouldering his rifle, a sign he wasn’t a threat, he continued to simply watch her, clearly trying to figure out just what she was doing out in the forest with a pack stuffed full on her back.

Swallowing hard, she slowly sheathed her knife, but kept her hand close to it. She could see the pistol on his hip and knew this man was still a threat. Opening her mouth to speak again, she was interrupted by a sudden growl to her right. Glancing over, she saw a large, sleek black wolf creep out from the bushes, its ears flattened to its skull, and its lips pulled back in a viscous snarl. From the corner of her eye she saw the man draw his pistol, quickly taking aim at the wolf and gasped.

“ **No**!” she shouted, diving in front of the wolf with her arms spread out. “Don’t hurt him!” With wide eyes, she saw as confusion crossed the mans face, his eyes narrowed at her. “Roman… His name is Roman. And he won’t hurt you, as long as you don’t hurt me,” she spoke, a slight quiver in her voice. She watched as he slowly lowered his pistol, holstering it with just as much hesitation, his eyes still narrowed at her. Feeling Roman wrap himself around her legs, she lowered her arms, and reached a hand down to pet his head gently. 

“Who are you?” he spoke slowly, demanding. 

“Emma,” she whispered out, using a name she hadn’t said aloud in many years. “Emma Rogers…” 

From behind the man she noticed another wolf creep up, ears flattened, but otherwise calm as it walked around him. He instantly stiffened, his eyes going from the snow white wolf to Emma, who was holding a hand out for it.

“This is Venus… The others are around us, too,” she said while glancing at the other three wolves locations. She saw the man fallow her gaze, a scowl quickly crossing his features. “Come,” she spoke gently, immediately having a three wolves come towards her. One tawny, one dark gray, and one a light cream color. All of the wolves sat, or stood, around her, their eyes on Jacob. They were curios about him. It wasn’t everyday that their human spoke to another one after all.

Even with all five wolves now out in the open, Jacob didn’t feel anymore secure. How did this woman have control other five wild wolves? They surrounded her, protected her… 

“How do you do that?” he asked while watching the small pack closely. He was uneasy, knowing that a simple command from Emma could have them lunging at him and tearing out his throat.

“They’re my family. They listen to me.” Emma said before biting her lip softly. “They won’t hurt you… I promise.” She knew her word probably meant nothing to the man, but she still had to say it. “Your name… what is it?” She watched as the man seemed to have an internal struggle on whether or not he should tell her until finally he heaved a small sigh. 

“Jacob Seed,” was all he said, and it left her cocking her head to the side. 

“Seed… Like the religious man?” She had gotten her hands on a copy of the Book of Joseph one day, and had read it out of curiosity.

“That’d be my brother,” Jacob said with a slight nod of his head.

“So you’re part of that cult? The one that’s been growing?” she asked with curiosity now strumming through her. The book had been interesting and had left her with many questions, although she wasn’t entirely sure she believed any of it. Especially the end of the world part, but who was she to judge their beliefs? Seeing his guarded look, she couldn’t help but smile a bit. “I uh… I read your brothers book,” she mumbled.

“I am, yeah. How is it you’ve never been seen before? I know these mountains like the back of my hand, yet I’ve never seen you.”

Shrugging her shoulders, she scuffed her boot against the ground softly before finally answering. “I’m good at hiding. Wolves taught me how to stay hidden.”

“You live out here?” he asked, the surprise evident in his voice.

Hesitantly Emma nodded, her eyes slowly raising to meet his gaze. “I have for a long time…” she muttered. She didn’t want to tell him about her cabin, not now at least. She still didn’t know him and the last thing she wanted was for her home to be in danger. Maybe if she got to know him more she would… Blinking in surprise, she bit the inside of her cheek as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Did she really want to know this man more? Just looking at him, he seemed strong, and strong was good. He was good looking, too. And his voice, she could listen to him speak all day and be more than content.

It’d been a long time since she’d had any human interaction. Sure, every now and then she’d accidentally stumble across someone and exchange words, but to have a conversation? She couldn’t remember the last time she had someone to hold a conversation with that wasn’t four legged. Maybe she did want to know him more… See him more than just this one encounter. The sudden static of a radio had her jolting out of her thoughts, eyes wide as she watched Jacob sigh and unclip a radio from his belt.

“ _Sir, the new shipment has arrived_.” a voice said over the radio, leaving Emma to tilt her head to the side.

“Copy,” Jacob replied before clipping his radio back into place. Glancing back up at Emma, he frowned slightly, not quite ready to leave this woman behind. She intrigued him. She was strong, that much was clear by how she easily carried her backpack, and the fact she lived in the damn forest with wolves, and he couldn’t help but feel something inside pull him towards her.

“So… I suppose you have to leave…” she said with a slight sadness to her voice. “Can… Will I ever see you again?” she suddenly asked, her head tucked as she glanced up at him shyly. 

Chuckling softly, Jacob smirked at the woman. So, she was just as interested in knowing him as he was her? “Yeah. I’ll make sure of it.” Taking his radio off his belt once more, he fiddled with it for a moment before unsheathing his knife to etch something onto the back of it. When he was finished, he sheathed his knife once more, nodded at Emma, and then tossed the radio over to her. “My frequency is etched on the back. Battery should last a few days for ya, but I’m sure you can scavenge some new ones for it when you need to. Just turn the dial to my number, press the big button on the side, and talk. I’ll hear ya.”

Turning the radio over in her hands, she looked up at Jacob with wide eyes, a smile on her lips. “Thanks, but don’t you need this?”

“Got others. I’ll see you around, Sweetheart.” he said before turning around, not seeing the blush that crossed her face at the pet name.

As Emma watched his slowly retreating form, she never noticed Pax begin to trot after him, her fluffy tail swishing lazily behind her as she neared him.

"Pax!"

He had heard Emma call out, a hint of worry in her voice. He wondered why until he felt a cold, wet nose gently nudge his hand. Glancing down, he was greeted by vivid gold eyes staring back up at him. The tawny wolf stood behind him, sniffing curiously at his hand. Turning to face the wolf, he knelt down and offered her his hand, his movements all slow as not to spook the animal.

Pax sniffed his hand and wrist thoroughly before nudging her snout under his hand, allowing him to slowly stroke her head.

"Good girl," he murmured while scratching behind her ear, the action earning him a low whine of happiness. As he pet the young wolf, from his peripheral vision he noticed the cream colored one creeping up to him. Offering his other hand to this wolf, he was given the same treatment as before. Slowly, and a bit more cautiously, this wolf nudged at his hand, looking for a pet as well.

"What's this one's name?" Jacob called out while glancing up at a stunned Emma.

"Finn. That one is Finn..." she slowly replied, a small smile now playing on her lips.

It wasn't long before the dark gray one trotted up, clearly jealous that the other two were getting attention while he wasn't. Jacob chuckled, removing his hand from Pax, who let out whined of protest, and let the third wolf sniff at him before getting his own scritches.

"That's Dixon," Emma said as she slowly approached Jacob. "They like you, so you must not be so bad…" she said softly. “The real test will be getting those two to accept you,” she said while glancing back at Venus and Roman. The two wolves still stood where they had with Emma, watching the display before them warily.

“They’re the alphas…”

“Mhm. So, you get on their good side, and I’ll know you’re a good man,” Emma said with a grin. “This is a good start though,” she gestured to the three wolves who were clamoring for his attention. “You’re good with them…” she said softly, a fond look in her eyes.

“Got wolves of my own,” Jacob replied with a small shrug, though he noticed how Emma perked up at this.

“Really?” she asked excitedly. “How many?”

“Quite a few…” he muttered, his hand leaving Finn so he could give Pax some more attention. “Two of my own though. Maybe you’ll meet them some day. For now though, I have to go. Get home before dark,” he told Emma, who simply nodded at him. 

“I will. Bye for now,” she said as she watched him stand, hearing his knees click as he did. He was older than her, but part of her, something primal deep inside, was wanting him more and more. Watching as he left, she then turned to the deer she’d killed and sighed. Already she could feel a loneliness creep in, a frown settling on her face. Roman was quick to trot over, licking gently at her hand once he reached her. The other wolves surrounded her, whining softly. They didn’t like to see their human sad.

“I’m fine, guys…” she smiled gently at them, petting each of their heads before walking to her buck. “Just… I’m fine.” The wolves were her family, and that’d never change, but they couldn’t speak. And after finally speaking to another person, being interested in another person, she quickly missed the interaction. Dropping her pack to the ground, she clipped her new radio to it then watched as Roman picked it up by the handle, carrying it easily. This left her able to easily lift the gutted deer up to sling it over her shoulders. She staggered briefly before catching her footing and heading out. Home wasn’t too far, so she didn’t mind having to carry the deer. Though she did have to stop now and then for a breather. The damn thing was heavy after all.

Lugging the deer back to her cabin, she strung it up by it’s back legs just on the edge of the property that surrounded her cabin to let it bleed out. She’d skin it and cure the hide and meat in the morning, but for now she was hungry and tired so she retreated into her home to put away the provisions she had gathered earlier. She cooked a simple meal, tried on her new clothing, which she found a few items that fit, then settled down with her wolves and a book.

After staring at the same page for nearly twenty minutes, Emma heaved out a heavy sigh and closed her book, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. She couldn’t focus, no matter how hard she tried. The thoughts in her head were swirling around like a raging storm, making it near impossible to think of anything. Finally giving up and setting her book aside, she curled up on her bed made up of various furs and closed her eyes. Maybe she could just fall asleep and finally get her thoughts to settle down…

That night Emma tossed and turned, her mind filled with thoughts of nothing but of the man she had met that day. She wanted to see him again. She wanted to know more about him. She didn’t know what it was about Jacob Seed, but she wanted him, and now she just had to find a way to try and catch his interest.


	2. Trailed

With sleep having been so fleeting for her, Emma was exhausted and grumpy. The wolves had gotten up at their regular time, something that she fought tooth and nail as she had nothing but staying in bed planned for the day. It took Pax and Finn sitting on her to finally drag her out of her furs and into the waking world. With much moaning and groaning, that is.

Slowly making breakfast for herself, Emma ate lazily while gazing out the front window of the cabin. It was bright and sunny out with a slight breeze, and even a few fluffy clouds in the sky. Should be nice. But she'd still rather be in bed, trying in vain to get some rest. Even now her thoughts were racing, Jacob Seed the only thing she could think of. She hated it. Loathed it even.

It wasn't as if he was the first man she'd ever come across. She'd met plenty of them over the years, found many of them attractive even... But this one was different. There was just something about Jacob she couldn't shake. Maybe it was his way with the wolves? No... That couldn't be it. She'd found him interesting before that interaction had happened. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but that wouldn't stop her. She'd figure it out eventually. Or drive herself nuts in the process. The latter being more probable.

Once done with her breakfast, Emma wandered outside and breathed in deeply before exhaling loudly. The wolves were lounging in the sun, watching her curiously as she shuffled over to her hanging deer. It still had several days left to hang, so after checking it over, she left it be. Maybe she could give some of the meat to Jacob. There was more than enough there for her to last her quite some time, so perhaps she could use that as a way to get him to like her. Didn't people say that a good way to a mans heart was through his stomach?

Nodding her head as if to confirm her idea, Emma soon turned on her heel and wandered back into the cabin to grab her quiver and bow. With her deer still curing, she'd need something else tasty for dinner, so she headed out with her wolves in hopes of coming across a few hares. She really wanted some turkey, but those were all the way down in Holland Valley, a place she’d been only once before, and that was too far away from home for her liking. Maybe if she got Jacob to like her, he’d bring her a turkey? Deer meat for turkey meat didn’t sound like too bad of a trade off to her.

Having walked a few miles already, and bagged two hares, she was now walking in a large circle. She had felt eyes on her some time ago, not long after shooting her second hare, and was now simply messing with whoever was attempting to watch her. Poorly, she might add. It wasn't Jacob, since she knew the man would just come out and show himself, that and her wolves would be happy to see him. So while in hopes of catching a glimpse at who it was, she continued her circular path.

Whoever this was, was patient. They fallowed her silently, but were far too close to keep the feeling of eyes on her away. She'd already quietly ordered her wolves to not attack, having far more fun with messing with this tracker than she probably should. Her life was pretty boring some days, so if she could entertain herself with this, she would. Besides, she wanted to see just how far she could walk and have this person trail her. Surely they’d give up eventually.

It had been about an hour of walking that she began to grow bored. The person wasn’t giving up, and she was quickly losing interest in this game. She’d also managed to grab one more hare and wanted to head back home to prepare them. So, with a nod in Roman's direction, Emma watch with an amused expression as the wolf ran off in her pursuers direction.

"Three... Two... One..." she mumbled out, chuckling softly to herself as a man's terrified scream echoed throughout the forest. Roman had pounced.

Nonchalantly waltzing over to Roman, who was standing over a man laid out on his back, she tilted her head and tsked softly.

"You're not a very good tracker," she stated dryly, shooing Roman away to take his place. Sitting cross legged on the man's abdomen now, she stared down at him, studied him closely, and hummed when she noticed a familiar cross hanging around his neck. "You're part of the cult," she mused, the necklace grasped between two fingers.

"Soooo, who sent ya?" she asked while dropping the necklace back onto the man's chest.

"J-Jacob did..." the man stuttered out. He didn't dare move. Not when there were five wolves surrounding him, and a woman sitting atop him who would have no qualms about slitting his throat.

"Oh? And why's that?" she asked with a raised brow, her lips pursed.

"He-He wanted to know more about you."

Huh. Well that's interesting. Humming softly, she bobbed her head up and down a few times before reaching towards her hip, something that made the man stiffen in fear, to grab her radio. Fiddling with it, she soon pressed the button on the side and raised it to her mouth.

"Jacob? You there?" she called out then let go of the button, a little unsure about if she was using the radio correctly or not. It took a moment before she heard static come from the device in her hand, a voice soon coming over it.

" _Rogers_?" Jacob questioned.

"Oh, hey, it works!" Emma chirped excitedly into the radio. "Anyway, if you wanted to know more about me, you didn't have to send--" she paused to look down at the man beneath her. "What's your name?" she questioned him.

"Adam..." he said with an unsure voice.

"You didn't have to send Adam here after me," she continued into the radio, an amused tone lacing her voice.

" _Huh, found him, did you_?" Jacob hummed out, sounding displeased with the man he had sent.

"Pretty hard not to. He was quiet, but still made himself know. But that's not the point. You wanna know about me, just ask me yourself," she said with a bit of disappointment in her voice. "I'd rather see you than this guy," she motioned towards the man beneath her despite the fact she knew Jacob couldn't see the gesture. "No offence," she said to Adam with a small grin.

" _Yeah, you got a point_ ," she heard him grumble out, and she couldn't help but roll her eyes. " _Tomorrow, high noon. Same clearing we first met. Good _?"__

__"Sounds perfect," she agreed with a wide smile. "I'm sending your tracker home now. He needs some work. See ya tomorrow.” After clipping her radio back on her belt, she looked down at Adam once more and pursed her lips. “You know, when you track someone, keep back a little ways, yeah?” she told him while patting his cheek playfully. “Otherwise they’ll just know you’re there. Now shoo, I’ve got food to cook.”_ _

__Heaving herself up off the man beneath her, Emma looked down at Adam, who still hadn’t moved, and motioned with her hands for him to go away. He did so, slowly, and all while keeping his eyes on her and the wolves. Once he was out of sight she could hear his footsteps hurrying away, something that made her chuckle. Had Jacob told him she was dangerous? Glancing down at the wolves around her, she hummed softly. Nah, that’s probably why. Five mouths of razor sharp teeth would usually make any sane person flee._ _

__After jogging home, Emma was quick to get to work skinning and preparing her hares for dinner. Once they, and a pot of cut up carrots, were cooking over a spit outside, she got to work prepping the skins to be cured. She didn’t allow anything to go to waste, and would more than likely make boot inserts for herself with the furs to keep her feet warm come the winter season. Even her deer hide would be tanned and kept folded for future use, while the bones would be given to the wolves to gnaw on._ _

__With her hares and carrots cooked, she grabbed a can of pears, along with a can of soda(a luxury to her), and plopped down outside to eat. The wolves had wandered off to hunt, leaving her alone with her thoughts of tomorrow’s meeting with Jacob. She should be a tad insulted that he had sent someone to watch her, but she just couldn’t find it in herself to truly be bothered by it. If anything she was amused, and filled with a bit of hope. He’d wanted to know more about her, so surely that meant something, right?_ _

__While it could be that, he could also just find it interesting that she lived in the woods with a pack of wolves. She wasn’t about to let herself dwell on it too much, though. There were more than enough thoughts crowding her head as it was, she didn’t need to add more. So after finishing her meal, she cleaned up after herself and wandered inside. She didn’t know when her family would be back, but she’d welcome the bit of peace and quiet, and dive into a book._ _

__Morning had seem to come far too quickly just the day before, but now the night seemed to drag on forever. When the sun finally did rise, Emma was up and ready as well. The wolves watched with interest as she busied herself around the cabin, pulling out a set of clean clothes she had taken during her last food run. Now clothed in jeans, a black shirt, and a flannel over that, Emma took in her appearance in the small mirror she had hung on the wall and cocked her head, smiling a bit to herself. That’d do. Not too tight, not too lose, and it looked good on her._ _

__Throwing on her shawl, she grabbed her arrows and bow, and headed out, the wolves on her heels. The sun was nearly at it’s highest, but knowing that the clearing wasn’t too far away, she took her time getting there. She didn’t want to seem as excited as she truly was about this. Even when she did arrive at the clearing, Jacob wasn’t there just yet, so she laid down on her back, spread eagle, and stared up at the bits of sky she could see through the tree canopy. Around her the wolves sprawled out, Pax and Finn dozing in the sunrays that broke through the trees, while the others took watch._ _

__A rustle in the shrubs to her right made Emma loll her head to the side just in time to see two new wolves come into view. Sitting up on her elbows, she looked over the black wolf with a white starburst on his chest, and the light gray wolf, her eyes narrowing a bit. It wasn’t until Jacob joined them that she eased up, a smile making it’s way onto her face as she looked up at him._ _

__“These are your wolves?” she asked while nodding towards them. Currently the two were sniffing at her little pack curiously, ears perked up in interest._ _

__“Yeah. This is Marcus,” he said while motioning to the light gray wolf, “and Nero,” he motioned to the black one._ _

__Sitting up fully, she slowly raised her hand towards the new comers, smiling as they slowly approached her. Her family watched, warily, until Nero finally allowed Emma to pet him. Marcus fallowed the action soon after._ _

__“Well, I think they like me,” Emma grinned. She was soon on her back once more, her two new friends wandering off to meet the rest of the wolves. “Lay with me,” she said softly while motioning for Jacob to join her. She could see him raise a brow, watched as he hesitated for a moment, then finally relented. After shrugging off his rifle, he leaned it against a tree, then slowly lowered himself to the ground by her. They laid in silence for a while, simply staring up at the slivers of sky as the clouds passed by. In this silence, Emma could hear his slightly raspy breaths and frowned, concern and curiosity rising in her. Had he gotten hurt in the past that left him like that? He surely didn’t seem like the smoking type, and she’d undoubtedly smell the foul odor on him. Maybe she could ask him today…_ _

__“So… you wanted to know more about me, hm?” she smiled, her head turning to face him briefly before her gaze returned to the sky. “I’m not opposed to you asking me questions, Jacob. I prefer it. I’d rather not have someone attempt, poorly, at spying on me.” she said softly, an almost teasing tone in her voice._ _

__“Didn’t think he’d get caught…” Jacob grunted out before heaving a sigh. “S’pose you’re right, though.” Slowly he allowed himself to relax more, his arms now crossed behind his head. “Well, guess I’ll start with the obvious: Why do you live out in the forest with wolves?”_ _

__A grin spread across her face at the question, knowing that would be something he’d ask. “I was raised by them,” she started simply. “My father was an enthusiastic amateur pilot, and when my parents decided to move to Montana, he flew us. I was only ten, and don’t remember much really... I just remember one moment we were in the sky with dark clouds around us, and then next we were falling out of it. We crashed in the mountains, and mom died on impact. I was pretty bruised up, but otherwise okay. And dad…” she paused, swallowing hard. “He had a piece of metal through his chest. He was calm, kept me quiet and somewhat calm, but he eventually bled out, and I was left alone.”_ _

__Roman slowly wandered over and laid down beside Emma, his head on her chest as she told her story. He knew she was saddened by the memories, and did what he could to comfort her. Her hand eventually lifted and tangled itself into the wolf’s thick fur, her fingers scratching at his shoulder._ _

__“Roman’s mother found me, and I honestly thought she’d eat me… but she protected me. She fallowed me around as I wandered through the forest, kept me safe from a wolverine, and even curled up with me when it was night time. I still don’t know why, but I’m still thankful none the less.” Glancing over towards Jacob again, she was surprised to see his icy blue eyes focused on her, and unreadable expression on his face. “Eventually I found a small cabin and decided to stay in it. Someone had to come by it, right? There was food inside, not much, but enough… No one ever came though.”_ _

__“I think I stayed there for five days before I ran out of food,” she continued, a small frown set on her face. “Luna, Roman’s mom, stayed with me the entire time and kept me warm, and I just kind of latched onto her. Eventually I left the cabin and wandered again, fallowed Luna for a bit as well, and finally came across a road. I was happy, I knew I’d see people again and get help, but I didn’t wanna leave Luna. She’d become my guardian and I didn’t want to suddenly abandon her, so I stole some food from a house and went back to the cabin with her help.”_ _

__Ruffling Roman’s head up playfully, she smiled at the large wolf before kissing him on the nose. “This guy came along after a few years of living with Luna, and we’ve been inseparable ever since. I honestly couldn’t imagine a life without them. Sure, there were times were I regretted not looking for human help; life got hard, I got lonely or scared. But now? They’re my family. They protect me, and I protect them.”_ _

__“And Luna?” Jacob suddenly asked, his brow raised._ _

__“She died of old age a few years ago,” she said with a sad smile. “She was a good girl.”_ _

__“Huh… You’re a lot stronger than I originally thought,” he muttered out, clearly surprised she’d lived in the wild for so long. “How old are you even?” he asked while looking at her, his eyes studying her face._ _

__Laughing, Emma shook her head a bit while grinning. “I’ll tell you mine, if you tell me yours,” she bartered. She watched as Jacob’s lips became a straight line, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly. Did he not want to say? she wondered with a tilt of her head._ _

__“47,” he muttered out, expecting, well he wasn’t entirely sure. Disgust perhaps? What he wasn’t expecting was for her to not even bat an eye at his age, instead she smiled in triumph._ _

__“26, I think. Wait, what year is it now?”_ _

__“2018...”_ _

__Counting in her head, Emma suddenly nodded. “Yup, 26.”_ _

__“So you’ve been livin’ out here for 16 years?” Jacob asked, slight amazement finally showing on his face._ _

__“Mhm. Hunt, fish, steal food and other provisions, sell furs and meat, and you can make a pretty good life out here.” she said with a shrug of her shoulders._ _

__“How are you so well spoken if you didn’t go to school?”_ _

__“I read books. I was already ahead of my class in reading before the crash, so it wasn’t hard to keep it up. Dictionaries are helpful. Still not too good with numbers though…” she admitted in a grumbled tone. She’d always hated maths to begin with, but still read books on the subject every now and then. Turning to Jacob with a curios look, she bit her lips before finally opening her mouth. “What do you do..? In the cult, I mean…” she asked tentatively._ _

__Looking at her, Jacob then turned back to the sky while working his jaw. Would the truth send her running? He wasn’t about to sugar coat it for her, but something in his gut made him worry he’d scare her off. “I cull the herd of the weak and the sinners,” he stated bluntly. “I train the soldiers to be strong, and ruthless. I protect my family, and the project.” Daring a glance over at Emma, he was surprised to see her looking at him curiously, her eyes narrowed in thought._ _

__“You're like a wolf…” she mumbled out thoughtfully. “You keep the herd healthy and strong. You protect your family, your pack, and keep them safe and cared for." Propping herself up on her elbows, she tilted her head to the side, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. "Your brother may be in charge of the cu-- project, but you're clearly the alpha of the group." she said softly, a smile now playing on her lips. Perhaps this was what drew her to him. He was like a wolf; strong, primal, loyal to his pack._ _

__Jacob looked up at her with a curios expression, her words running through his head. "You think so, huh?" he mused, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards into a small smirk. He watched Emma shift on her back, a shy look on her face as she fiddled Roman’s fur, his head now resting on her stomach. She honestly looked rather adorable all flustered, and having her say he was like the alpha just made it all the more so._ _

__“I know a leader when I see one,” she shrugged. “Can I ask you something?”_ _

__“S’pose it’s only fair…”_ _

__“Did you serve?” she asked while looking at the dog tags that rested on his chest._ _

__Nodding his head, Jacob bent one of his knees before grunting out “82nd Airborne”._ _

__“So you flew?” she asked with wide eyes. Despite having been in an airplane crash, she still held a fascination for planes and flying._ _

__“Nah, was a marksmen.”_ _

__“Oh,” her eyes flitted over to his blazing red .50 cal and she made a soft sound. Made sense then. “Is that when you got your scars? When you served?” she asked tentatively, although she immediately regretted it. She saw how he glanced over at her quickly and bit the tip of her tongue, scolding herself for asking such a personal question._ _

__“Yeah, it was,” was all he said, and she was quick to leave it at that with a nod of her head._ _

__The last thing she wanted was to push him or ask him the wrong question. From then on, she decided not to ask any more questions that involved his time in the Army. If he wanted her to know, he’d tell her on his own. So, instead, she focused on questions involving the project, simple things about his brothers, and even some involving the other wolves he had mentioned before. She had to admit, she was curios about the Judges now and just what they were like. She’d seen glimpses of the white wolves before, but hadn’t  
ever thought of them being Jacob’s._ _

__Before they knew it, night had fallen, and yet they continued to shoot random questions back and forth to each other. Jacob had wanted to know more about the cabin she stayed in, wondering where it was and how he’d never stumbled upon it before. Needless to say, he’d found out there was a leak beginning to form in the roof and had offered to lend a hand before it rained again. Emma was, of course, surprised by the offer, but had gratefully accepted the help. Simple things she could fix herself, a roof she could not._ _

__Now, standing before the sniper, she grinned up at him while rocking on the balls of her feet. The day had been fruitful, both finding out more than their fair share about the other in nearly every way they could, and Emma was happy about that. It was a day well spent in her mind, and she hoped Jacob felt the same way. It was hard for her to tell at times what the man was thinking, his face like a mask more often than not, but there was something in his eyes that told her he’d enjoyed the day as well._ _

__“Well, I suppose I should thank you for sending your tracker after me, huh? Today was nice,” she admitted. Having someone to finally speak to, and all day at that, had been absolutely thrilling to her. “And I suppose I should thank you for putting up with me chatting your ear off. I think it’s easy to say I do enough talking for the two of us.”_ _

__Shaking his head, Jacob let out a soft chuckle, a small smirk on his lips. He hadn’t minded her chatter at all. It was actually quite refreshing to talk about a range of things and not just the project for once. Emma was lively, personable, and just down right adorable. She’d made him feel things he hadn’t felt in a long time, and had stirred things up inside of him he hadn’t thought of in just as long._ _

__“I enjoyed the day,” he said simply, “and I’ll show you how to fix your roof when I get the chance.” He wasn’t going to just do it for her, he wanted her to know how to do it in case he wasn’t around the next time it leaked. “For now, I need to head back. Watch your step when you head home,” he said while nodding his head in the direction of her cabin._ _

__“Will do,” she said softly, a nervous look on her face as she contemplated her next actions. He’d either like it, or not. Taking a chance, she leaned up on her tiptoes and placed a kiss on his scarred cheek. Seeing as he hadn’t recoiled at her touch, and wasn’t glaring at her when she pulled away, she felt hope flutter inside her that maybe she hadn’t just made a fool of herself. In fact, seeing as he stood stock still with his eyes slightly widened, she’d even say she managed to shock him. “Careful heading back to St. Francis’,” she grinned while turning on her heal._ _

__Hearing him mutter out a ‘yeah’, she bit her lip to stifle a chuckle as she disappeared into the trees, her wolves hot on her tail. She never saw how he watched after her until she was out of sight, a look of determination now set in his eyes. He’d make her his. And he had little doubt left that she’d be against it now. Turning, he gathered his rifle and motioned for his boys to fallow, thoughts of how to win her over swarming his head as he made his way back to the veteran’s center._ _


	3. Stubborn

“You know what a hammer is, right?” Jacob asked as he set the ladder up. Emma, of course, balked and sputtered at the question with wide eyes.

“Yes I know what a hammer is!” she snapped, her eyes now narrowed at the red headed man. 

“Hey, just checking. You’re the one that’s been living in a forest all your life,” Jacob mused, a grin spreading across his face.

“You’re a dick,” she muttered, pouting as she helped gather up the tools they needed to fix the roof with. Jacob had shown up early morning with a sled, being pulled by his wolves, full of supplies. He’d pulled the rickety old ladder she had out from behind the cabin and set it up against the side of the cabin. It had held his weight, so he had no problem with letting Emma climb up after him. He would show her how to first remove the old shingles and underlayment before showing her how to replace it all.

“So where’d you learn to do this?” Emma had asked after tossing a few old shingles off the roof and onto a tarp on the ground.

“Picked it up over time,” Jacob shrugged. He didn’t really feel like telling her he’d learned it from a work program in juvie. “Not that hard to learn. Just gotta be willing to work.”

Bobbing her head, she watched as he worked for a moment, smiling to herself. “Thanks again,” she mumbled as she worked on getting more of the old shingles off.

“Don’t thank me yet. We still got plenty of work to do.”

Working well into the early afternoon, Emma at one point disappeared off the roof and into the cabin. She needed to get more supplies soon, but she figured she had enough to feed herself and Jacob. So after grabbing a small lunch for them both, she scurried back up the ladder so they could both sit on the roof and enjoy their meal. Below them all the wolves were basking in the sun. Her pack had taken to Jacob’s two quickly and happily allowed them to sun with them.

After lunch they managed to clear the roof off, and after Jacob inspected the wood to make sure none had rotted too terribly, they were back on the ground sorting through the supplies.

“So what do we take up first?” she asked while poking around at everything that sat in the sled. There were shingles, which she knew what those were, but there was a few things she wasn’t sure of. 

“The felt paper,” Jacob said as he gathered up roofing nails.

“The… green stuff, right?” she asked while pointing to the roll of green felt paper.

“Yeah, that stuff.” 

Picking up the roll of felt paper up, she carried it over to the ladder and looked up, humming softly as she thought of a way to get it up there. “Ah!” Setting the roll down, she trotted inside her cabin quickly and came back out with a rope. After tying the rope around the roll securely, she climbed up the ladder and carefully pulled felt paper up to her. Grinning proudly down to Jacob, he couldn’t help but chuckle softly as he fallowed after her.

“Good,” Jacob praised her, smirking when he noticed her cheeks flush. “Now, roll it out,” he ordered. Watching and guiding her, he was quick to show her how things were done before letting her do it on her own. It was easy to see how proud she was of herself for learning a new skill. “Drive the nails in straight,” he reminded her as he watched her ready another roofing nail. 

Working without incident through the afternoon and early evening, it wasn’t long before they were laying down the new shingles and nailing them in place. It had been hard work, but in the end it had to be one of the most satisfying things she’d ever done. Now, standing near the edge of the roof staring down at the finished work, she gave Jacob a proud grin, her body practically buzzing in excitement from having done a good majority of the work herself.

Once back on the ground the two of them cleaned up and loaded all the old roofing into the sled. She had a feeling his wolves would be none to pleased having to pull the thing again, but she was grateful they had and happily gave them some deer meat to eat as thanks. Her wolves had given her the puppy dog eyes once they saw the deer meat and got their share of it as well.

“Here, my thanks to you,” Emma said while handing Jacob a package of venison. There was a good couple pounds there that she knew would last him a good while. 

“You’re welcome,” he muttered out while placing the package in the sled. “It shouldn’t leak anymore, but if any thing goes wrong, let me know.”

After promising she would, she bid Jacob a good night and watched as he and his wolves walked off into the forest. Spending the whole day with him again had been invigorating. Not only did she get the human interaction she desperately craved anymore, but she’d learned a new skill as well. It was a win-win all around.

That night she slept well, her body and mind tired from all the work put out through the day. Her dreams, however, still revolved around one thing, or rather one man.

\----------

Sitting cross legged on her bed of furs, Emma quietly read while nibbling on a piece of beef jerky, thoroughly engrossed in the pages of her book. Around her slept the wolves, all of them curled up together forming a warm, cozy nest that she sat in the middle of. It was a quiet night, slightly overcast and breezy, but she didn’t feel like doing much. She hadn’t read for a few days and wanted to indulge and escape into a world of elves.

She hadn’t spoke to Jacob in a few days since their last meeting fixing her roof, but she was fine with that. Guarding a cult and training an army had to be time consuming, and the last thing Emma wanted was to be a burden to him. She’d hear from him soon enough, and when she did, she’d have plenty more to chatter on about. With the jerky held between her teeth, she carefully turned the page of her book, then tore a piece of jerky off to chew on.

“ _Rogers_!”

With an undignified squeal, Emma nearly fell over, and choked on her snack, from the sheer shock of hearing the booming voice come out of her radio. It was Jacob, but he sounded off. Worried. Which was new to her. She was use to him being level headed and calm, so hearing him worried over something instantly sent a chill down her spine. Something had to be wrong.

“Jacob? What the hell?” she asked once she’d stretched her body over to her small bedside table and grabbed the radio, her eyes narrowed at it.

“ _Where are you_?”

Where was she? Well that was an odd question and did nothing to calm her nerves any. 

“I… At my cabin…” she replied hesitantly, her eyes now glancing around at her pack. The wolves all had their heads up now, their sleepy eyes focusing on Emma in concern. 

“ _Good. Stay there and don’t leave._ ” came Jacob’s order, leaving her all the more confused. In the background she could hear what sounded like utter chaos going on around him. Voices of men and women yelling about ‘The Father’, gunshots echoing through the air, and even the sound of… a helicopter?

“Jacob, what’s going on?” fear laced her voice now, her eyes darting to the windows of the cabin as if she’d spot someone looking in on her. What had gotten the project so worked up? And what was wrong with Joseph? She hadn’t met the man yet, but knowing he was important to Jacob was all it took for her to worry about him.

“ _Somethin’ happened, but we’ll get it under control. Just stay where you are._ ” 

That was a crappy answer she thought with a huff.

“That doesn’t… What happened?” she pressed, her hand running anxiously through her hair. She wasn’t sure how long she waited for an answer that never came, simply staring down at the radio in her hands as she nibbled on her bottom lip. Wild thoughts ran through her head and left her reeling. Had Joseph been hurt? Had the project been attacked? She knew there was a resistance against them, she’d stumbled across a few of their members before that resulted in somewhat pleasant outcomes, so perhaps they’d done something? Finally she tore her gaze away from the radio and out her window once more. The sky was getting lighter, and she knew she had to get at least a few hours of rest before day came. She had no idea what was to come and wanted a somewhat clear head…

\----------

Morning had come too quickly, yet far too slowly at the same time. She’d still hadn’t heard back from Jacob and was beginning to fear the worst. Had something happened to him? She shivered at the thought and quickly shook her head. No, nothing would happen to him. He’d be fine… Right? Of course he would be, she scolded herself. He was fully capable of taking care of himself and outsmarting whatever threat the project was facing.

It was after five days that Emma began to doubt herself. Surely he would have contacted her by now, right? She’d tried to radio him a few times only to be met with a deafening silence. She’d continued on with her regular routine and, as always, kept her radio on her at all times. There was no chance in hell that she’d miss his next call.

Scavenging through an abandoned house, Emma was carefully placing all the canned goods she’d found into her bag when a noise outside caught her attention. It wasn’t uncommon anymore for gunfire to be heard, but this was too close for comfort. So, while peeking out one of the front windows, she looked around for the source and found a group of resistance members being all but slaughtered by a group of Peggies. The sight made her wince and duck down, her eyes wide as she scurried back into the kitchen to take cover. Guns terrified her, and to see both sides wildly shooting around made her uneasy.

Staying put until the gunfire stopped, Emma quickly gathered her supplies and crept out of the house, her head on a swivel as she kept an eye out for any danger. The last thing she needed was a gun in her face. With it nearing night now, she was being extra cautious now so as to not run into anyone. The forest wasn’t even safe anymore she’d found. Well it was up by her cabin, but further towards the roads it sure wasn’t. Once she finally reached her home she let out a sigh of relief. She was safe, and so was her pack. Now just to hear from Jacob…

\----------

By day eight Emma had begun to think the worst. Jacob had to have been injured, or worse… No, she wasn’t going to think like that. He just had to be busy. He had a lot on his shoulders being security for the project after all, and that’s just what she had to keep telling herself.

“ _Rogers_.”

Her radio crackled out, making her all but drop her breakfast as she dove for it, her eyes wide.

“You scared me!” she scolded, though she doubted he really cared. “What the hell is going on?”

“ _I’ll explain when you get here. My hunters are coming for you_.”

To anyone else, that’d be a threat, but to Emma it just left her confused. Gaping, she stared down at her radio as she tried to figure out how to respond. Where was she going? And just who the hell was coming to get her? Letting out an annoyed groan, she glanced out her window to see if anyone was there yet, when she saw the coast was still clear, she turned her attention back to Jacob.

“Where is ‘here’?” she asked slowly. She didn’t want to leave her cabin. It was her home.

“ _St. Francis_ ,” was all Jacob said in reply, something that made her growl softly.

“I don’t want to leave my cabin, Jacob. No one knows where it is, but you. I’m safe here…” Now she simply felt sad as she looked around her home. It wasn’t much at all, and it needed quite a few repairs done still, but it was hers…

“ _Look, it’s not safe there anymore_.”

“But Jacob…” she started softly, her eyes downcast. “This is my home. And what about my pack? I can’t leave them. I won’t,” she declared as sternly as she could. 

“ _They can come with, there’s plenty of room for them. All of you will be safe then_.”

All of the sadness in her was quickly replaced with anger. Who was he to tell her what she was going to do? Who was he to think he knew best for her? She may not know exactly what was going on, or what had happened, but like hell was she about to leave her home because Jacob told her to. With another quick glance out her window to see if his ‘hunters’ were there, she turned her attention back to the little radio in her hands. 

“I’m not leaving. You can’t make me leave.” Emma didn’t care how childish it sounded, she was not going to have Jacob boss her around. “I don’t care what happened, you can’t suddenly radio me, tell me people are coming to get me, and expect me to happily leave my home and move to your damn veterans center!” she snapped, her grip on the radio tightening. “Call off your damn hunters, too. They come here and I’ll sick the wolves on them.” 

Not allowing Jacob any time to respond, she quickly turned off her radio and tossed it onto the small table by her bed. With her eyes downcast, Emma bit her bottom lip as thoughts raced through her head. She couldn’t believe she’d just snapped like that at him, but she wasn’t about to let him treat her like that. Part of her felt bad, but the other part knew she had to stand strong and not turn the radio back on until she knew they both were calm enough to talk civilly. No doubt Jacob was mad at her now for not instantly agreeing with him.

A rap at the door made her jump and look up, her eyes narrowed as she slowly crept towards the window. Outside stood two men in clothing she knew belonged to the cult, Jacob’s Chosen if she remembered correctly. Throwing open the door, she quickly aimed a well placed kick at the first man’s stomach, knocking him flat on his back and shocking the second man. Sure she was taking her frustration out on the wrong person, but it still got the point across to not mess with her.

“Leave,” she growled out, accompanied by the growls of her wolves behind her. “One word and they’re after you,” she warned. Watching as the man she kicked stagger to his feet, she met his eyes with a cold glare. 

“We have orders--”

“Not anymore!” she interrupted with a shout. “I told Jacob ‘no’! So get lost,” she ground out. Even with masks on, she could tell the two men were shocked at the fact she dare tell Jacob ‘no’, that she wasn’t willingly coming with them. 

“We have orders to drag you back if we have to…” the second man spoke up, his tone nervous and unsure as they both watched five wolves slowly stalk out of the cabin with their teeth bared. 

“I’d like to see you try,” she laughed. “Go.” At her word, the wolves sprang forward, their jaws snapping at the two men. Frightened, but on orders to not shoot the wolves, the men quickly backed up, their hands up in surrender. 

“Okay, okay! Jesus, woman!” one sputtered out, his eyes wide. The wolves had stopped their approach, but still snarled at the men in warning. 

“Leave, and tell Jacob he can’t just boss me around like I’m one of his soldiers.” Watching the men back up before turning to leave, she could hear one mutter under his breath about how Jacob was going to be pissed. She didn’t really care how mad he would be, she wasn’t going to be ordered to do something she didn’t want to do. She’d deal with a pissy Jacob if she had to, but she would do that later. She wasn’t going to worry about it now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little unsure about this chapter, but I knew it had to be posted either way. Sorry for the bit of a delay on this one, had drawn a blank for the longest time, but I should be back to normal in no time! As always, feedback is loved and welcomed!


	4. First Meeting

Driving wasn’t one of Emma’s strong suits, but she was currently doing her best in a pickup truck she had ‘barrowed’ off the side of the road. No one had been around, and after calling out a few times, she decided the thing had been abandoned and took off in it. She’d take it back after she was done using it. In the passenger seat sat Roman, his head sticking out the window and his tongue lolling out of his mouth. It was actually quite the sight to see a huge wolf riding in a rather small truck cab, but it worked and he was happy to go for a ride with her.

Leisurely making her way down the road, Emma kept an eye out for any of Jacob’s men as she went. It had been only a day since she’d snapped at him and told his men to get lost, and she knew it was only a matter of time before the man himself showed up on her doorstep. For now, though, she’d continue on with life and she had only one thing on her mind today and that was to drive to Holland Valley and bag herself a couple of turkeys. She’d been having a craving for some time now for the bird, and with being at odds with Jacob at the moment, she’d have to go and get them herself.

The drive into the valley was silent as she opted to leave the radio off. She didn’t really want anything to do with the cult at the moment, and that included listening to the songs that played over the radio about the heralds and Joseph. She wanted a nice, peaceful day that involved nothing but some hunting with Roman. Passing the project members walking on the side of the road made her bite her lip nervously as she wondered if any of them would try and stop her. Going past the Chosen, however, had her ducking down a bit in her seat as if that could somehow hide her from them.

Crossing over the bridge into Holland Valley made her sigh softly in relief, her body relaxing some. She knew from talking to him that Jacob seldom left the mountains, and when he did it was usually to go down to Joseph’s compound. He had told her about a family dinner type of thing that Joseph enjoyed having at Seed ranch, but it didn’t sound as if that was something that happened very often. For now she was away from the threat of Jacob popping up out of no where and tossing her over his shoulder.

Easing the truck to a stop near an apple orchard to have a look around, Emma turned it off soon after and hopped out with Roman quickly fallowing her. She knew from past experience that there were turkeys around here. Grabbing her bow and quiver from the bed of the truck, she walked into the orchard and breathed in deeply. It smelt wonderful here and she knew she’d have to take some fresh apples home with her as well. Maybe she’d be able to find a sack around here for them, too. That would come later, though. First she wanted her turkeys.

Hearing a gobble off to her left, she turned her head and listened closely as she silently crept towards the sound. Another gobble came from right in front of her and a smile formed on her face as she watched a Tom strut into her view. Readying an arrow, she took aim and fired, hitting the bird just right to drop it instantly. Roman was the one who trotted over and retrieved the bird, carrying the hefty thing over to Emma who swiftly loaded it into the back of her barrowed truck. She figured she’d collect three or four of the things before going apple picking.

It didn’t take long before Emma and Roman had four large Tom turkey in the bed of the truck, all of them a healthy size that would easily feed her and the wolves tonight. Now she was happily picking apples, a small sack sitting leaned up against a tree a few feet from where she currently stood. With her arms full, she went over to her sack and dumped them in, smiling when she saw she had a good dozen or so apples already. Figuring that was a good amount, she hefted the sack over her shoulder and made the short trek back to her truck. Maybe she’d cook the apples up with some brown sugar she’d scavenged for her tea. There, now she had dinner and dessert.

As she was loading her apples into the bed, Emma suddenly felt eyes on her and paused, now gripping her bow tight. She peeked over her shoulder to try and catch a glimpse at who was watching her, but she couldn’t see anyone out in the open. That meant the person was hiding and that made her all the more uneasy. Swallowing hard, she opened the drivers side door and ushered Roman in, but he stood stock still beside her, his eyes focused on something behind her.

“Roman, c’mon,” she muttered, now nervous as she glanced over her shoulder once more. “Roman!” she whispered harshly, but still he didn’t move. A low growl soon escaped his throat as he lowered his head, his ears now pinned back as he took a step forward. “No, Roman,” Emma said in a stern voice, but she knew it was all in vain. If the wolf wanted to do something, he was going to do it. And right now the only thing on his mind was protecting his human. She watched as he pulled his lips back to bare his teeth, snarling as he took another step forward. 

“Roman, please!” she pleaded with the animal, her arms now wrapped around his neck as she tried to get him to listen. Instead he took off and nearly sent Emma to the ground. Stumbling, she watched as the wolf bolted into the tree line in pursuit of whoever had been watching them, her heart in her throat. Cursing, she took off after her friend as quickly as she could, only to freeze when she heard the sound of a gunshot and a yelp. “Roman!” she shouted out as she sprinted head on towards the sound of soft whimpers. 

Roman, still snarling and growling, was running as quickly as he could around a man, his side bloody. It was only when he saw his human did he stop circling the man to stand in front of her protectively. Emma looked at the new man with wide eyes, her bow clutched in her hand, but otherwise useless. This man was dangerous, she could tell just by the air around him. No birds were chirping and no insects buzzing around him, just deafening silence. 

Swallowing hard, she took a step back when the man finally made eye contact with her, his eyes such a dark brown they nearly looked black. The scar on his cheek, a deep jagged gash, caught her attention as well. It nearly looked as if it was a bit wound from a dog. With a clean shaven head and a stiff posture, she wondered briefly if this man was a soldier or someone of authority, but it wasn’t a thought she dwelled on. All she wanted to do was think of a way out of this situation with both she and Roman surviving, but as the man raised his pistol, she began to think that wasn’t going to be a possibility. 

All within a few seconds the man had his pistol pointed at her and was firing, his eyes narrowed. Emma dove for cover, but not before being hit in the shoulder. White hot pain coursed through her body as she hid behind a tree, her entire body shaking out of fear. Hearing gunshots was bad enough for her, but to be fired upon and actually hit? She was absolutely terrified. But she knew she needed to get out of there, and do it now. Gathering all of her courage, Emma got to her feet and dashed off with Roman, thankfully, at her heals.

Bullets continued to whiz past her, causing her to squeak out in fear, as she raced towards her truck. With Roman ahead of her, she watched as he jumped into the truck moments before she dove in as well. Hastily turning the key, Emma all but cried out in joy when the truck started. Shifting into drive, she all but floored the gas pedal, burning rubber as she sped off down the road. Now, with the adrenaline gone and the tears beginning to well up in her eyes, Emma let out a soft sob, her hands white knuckling the steering wheel.

“Roman,” she whimpered out, her foot slowly letting up on the gas. She felt a cold nose nudge at her arm and glanced over to see Roman’s shocking gold eyes staring at her, a low whine escaping his throat. “Don’t ever run off again!” she reprimanded, only to have more tears fall from her eyes once she saw the wolf’s ears flatten sadly. “I’m sorry,” she sobbed out, her hand reaching out for him. He eagerly nuzzled at her hand, an action that calmed her down a little. Inside she was still shaken, her shoulder burning in pain. She knew the bullet was still in there, and she had no clue as to how to get it out…

\----------

Trudging along the forest, Emma had the sack that held her turkeys over her uninjured shoulder. Her apples had been left in the bed of the truck, free to whoever owned it or found it next. She just couldn’t carry them with her bad shoulder, even the turkeys were nearly too much. Beside her limped Roman, his side still bleeding, but at a much slower rate. She still had no idea how she’d get the bullets out, but she knew she had to think fast. Call Jacob? He’d know how, or at least know someone who did… but would be help after how she had acted?

With a frown etched onto her face, Emma soon broke through the trees and spotted her home, a sight that made her sigh softly in relief. Well, until she spotted Jacob leaning against the side of her cabin with his arms crossed. At his feet was Pax, who was snoozing soundly, and Finn who had his head resting on Jacob’s boot. Dixon and Venus were off to the side sunning themselves. Stepping closer, Emma dropped her sack of turkeys and glanced up at Jacob, readying herself for whatever was to come from him. She expected some kind of scolding from him, but when all she heard out of him was a soft “come here”, she was surprised. 

Slowly making her way towards him, she noticed his eyes were on her shoulder and winced. Blood still oozed from the wound, and there was a fair amount staining her clothing and skin, so there was no denying the fact she was injured. 

“What happened?” he demanded in a surprisingly soft tone, but it still made her swallow hard.

“A man was watching Roman and I… Roman took off after him and got shot, I fallowed and the man hit me, too,” she explained meekly, her head down. Even with her eyes downcast, she could see Jacob stiffen and bit her lip.

“What’d he look like?” he nearly growled out.

“Brown, nearly black eyes with a shaved head, probably six foot, tanned skin, and a deep scar on his left cheek…” She didn’t think the image of that man’s eyes would ever leave her mind, the look of absolute indifference and disdain.

“He’s a junior deputy,” Jacob began, his tone hard. “He, a marshal, and a sheriff tried to arrest Joseph. That was the night I asked where you were. That’s why I wanted you to come to St. Francis. I wanted to keep you safe from him,” he explained lowly.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered out. “I didn’t…” The stress of the day came crashing back down on her and, before she knew it, silent tears were streaming down her face again. “I didn’t want to leave my home just because you ordered me to,” she said weakly. “I didn’t know there was a mad man on the loose, I just thought…” Pausing, she rubbed her hands over her eyes to get rid of the tears there before looking up at Jacob. “I don’t know what I thought. I just knew I didn’t like suddenly being ordered around like I was one of your soldiers,” she muttered.

Hearing Jacob huff out a sigh, she bit her lip as she, once again, expected some sort of scolding. Instead she felt a hand on her arm tugging her closer. Watching as Jacob pulled the neck of her shirt down a bit to try and see her wound better, she soon shifted on her feet. 

“Bullet’s still in there?” he asked while taking a glance over her shoulder, looking for an exit wound. 

“Yeah… same with Roman’s wound, I think,” she answered softly.

“I have medical staff at St. Francis, they’ll be able to help you. Or I can dig it out with a knife and field dress it. Up to you,” he said with a shrug.

Nibbling on her lip, she glanced over at Roman before sighing and nodding her head. “St. Francis,” she whispered. “Jacob, I…” she paused and looked up at the man, her eyes full of worry. 

“I’m not gonna make you stay,” he grunted.

“No, no… My pack… they’d be safe there, right?”

“One of the safest places you can be right now.”

“And that man, he wouldn’t be able to get in?” she asked nervously.

Tilting his head to the side, Jacob watched her curiously before nodding. “No, he wouldn’t. He’d be a fool to even try,” he assured her.

Bobbing her head up and down a few times, Emma glanced back up at Jacob. “I’ll stay,” she finally said, “but only for a few nights. See if I even like it there…” she said stubbornly. It was good enough for Jacob, though. All he cared about at the moment was keeping the woman in front of him safe from any more harm from the junior deputy.

\----------

It had taken a few minutes, as Emma wasn’t quite sure just what she should take with her, but after deciding on taking a rucksack full of clothing, books, and a few other odd little trinkets, she set off with Jacob. They had patched up her shoulder, and Roman’s side, as best they could for the journey to the veteran’s center. Jacob carried both her rucksack and her sack of turkeys, something she didn’t feel like just leaving to rot after all the trouble she had of even getting the damn things, through the forest. Once at the main road she spotted a white truck and nearly sighed in relief. She was beginning to tire from all the running and walking she did today, that and her would was making her feel a bit off.

After the wolves were loaded into the bed of the truck, along with the two sacks of things, Emma climbed into the passenger seat and watched as Jacob started up the truck and drove off.

“What should I expect from this place?” she asked softly, her question making Jacob glance over at her. 

“Security. A safe place you and your wolves can rest easy without having to worry about the deputy hurting you, or them. They’ll be able to hunt on the grounds around the center, where there’s plenty of moose and caribou, without being shot at,” Jacob explained as he turned onto the road leading to the veteran’s center. Seeing the building up close for the first time, Emma shrank back in her seat a bit, her eyes wide as she took it all in. It was all a bit overwhelming, the building was huge and the amount of people intimidated her. She was use to simply interacting with Jacob, now she was in a place that was full of his soldiers. 

“They won’t bother you. They wouldn’t dare to,” Jacob spoke up, easing her mind some with his words. “I’ve already told them all that, if you don’t approach them first, to leave you the hell alone.” Glancing over at her, it was easy to tell she was a bit overwhelmed and he wasn’t entirely sure what to say to get her to feel at ease. He wasn’t exactly good at the whole comforting thing.

“Well, it’s a good start,” she finally spoke up once the truck was in park. “I’m sure I’ll warm up, I’m just… I’m just not use to so many people,” she said softly. “Or guns…” she admitted. 

“Don’t like guns, huh?” he asked with a quirked brow, a light chuckle escaping him when she shook her head vigorously. 

“None of them will be pointed your way, and if anyone dares point one at you, I’ll kill them myself.” Opening his door, he exited the truck and left Emma sitting there with a small smile on her face. Having him so protective over her felt nice. Hopping out of the truck, she watched as he carefully lifted Roman out of the bed and carried him into the veteran’s center. The other wolves trotted after him, curios as to where Jacob was taking their alpha male.

“The fact he’s letting you carry him is surprising. Means he’s warming up to you,” Emma grinned as she fell in step with him, which was rather hard with how much taller he was compared to her. 

“I’ll take it,” Jacob grunted, though inside he was rather pleased. Having the wolves warm up to him was just one more way for Emma to warm up to him, too. 

\----------

Standing in Jacob’s office, Emma over looked the courtyard with a tilted head. She had just been released from the medics, her shoulder now bullet free and wrapped in gauze, and was now waiting on Jacob to return from his rounds. From where she stood, she could easily see his blazing red head walking between the cages that held not only Judges, but people as well. That was something she’d have to ask him about. She wasn’t quite sure what the project had going on, but she was growing more and more curios.

Glancing behind her, she smiled when she saw her wolves all sprawled out around the room. On the bed Jacob kept in his office was Roman, his side all patched up, the pain meds he was on making him snooze soundly. She had been surprised when Jacob had laid him on the bed, but appreciated it none the less. Turning to look back out the double doors, she soon took a step out onto the balcony and breathed in the crisp mountain air with a smile on her face. So far this place wasn’t so bad.

Hearing the door behind her open, she turned, expecting to see Jacob, instead she was caught off guard when a man with yellow aviators stepped into the room. He wore black dress pants, a white shirt, and a black vest, his hair up in a bun. Swallowing, she took in the surprised look of the new man and gave him a weak wave, a small, nervous grin on her face.

“Um… Hi?” she mumbled out, her eyes glancing at the wolves who now had their heads up.

“Hello,” the man smiled, “who might you be?” he asked as he quietly closed the door. He seemed to be unfazed by the small pack watching him closely and kept his focus on her as he slowly walked closer. He didn’t want to spook her.

“Emma… and you are?”

Her answer made his smile grow, a kind look in his eyes now. “Joseph Seed,” he answered, his tone gentle and soothing. “I’ve heard about you, Emma. Jacob has mentioned you.” 

This made Emma perk up some, now curios of what had been said about her. “He has?” she asked with a small grin growing on her face. She watched as Joseph nodded and walked up to stand beside her, his eyes sweeping the courtyard for any signs of his elder brother. 

“Only good things, I assure you. It took quite a bit to even get your name out of him, actually. But after I finally asked what was on his mind as of late, he finally relented and told me some about you, and your wolves.” Joseph smiled down at her, something that made her feel at ease and smile back at him. “You’ve been on his mind a lot lately,” he confessed, his smile turning into a playful grin.

Something inside Emma warmed up at the thought of Jacob having her on his mind. Before she could speak again, the door to the office opened once more and Jacob walked in, a look of slight surprise on his face when he noticed his brother standing with Emma. 

“Didn’t know you were comin’, Joe,” he grunted out while trudging over to his desk.

“I thought I would come and see how things were fairing up here,” Joseph said as he walked over to his brother. Emma watched as the younger Seed placed his hand on Jacob’s shoulder, the two brothers touching foreheads before separating again. The gesture was endearing and was something that made her smile grow. “And I’m glad I did,” he continued while glancing over at her. “I got to meet young Emma here,” he nodded while reaching a hand out towards her.

Stepping closer, Emma relaxed visibly as Joseph laid a hand on her good shoulder. There was something about the man that was calming, and she looked forward to speaking with him at a greater length.

“Why don’t I have a guard show you to your room, Emma,” Jacob spoke up, his eyes on her. His suggestion made her nibble on her bottom lip, but she assumed the brothers had things to go over regarding the project. 

“Okay,” she nodded her head slightly, “but can Roman stay? I don’t want him to move much,” she said softly. 

After having Jacob agree to her, he called for one of his Chosen to come and show her where she’d be staying. It was only a few door down from Jacob’s office, something that relieved her greatly, and was spacious enough to allow her and her wolves plenty of room to move around. It was after thanking the man that she was finally alone, something that had her biting her lip once more. This place was still new and full of so many people she didn’t know, but having Jacob near by was some comfort to her.

Deciding to look around her room, she found her rucksack placed on a bed that was rather comfortable(which she had to happily bounce on a few times), and a bathroom all of her own. Her eyes lit up once she spotted the shower, a wide grin spreading across her face. It had been quite some time since she’d been able to indulge and take a hot shower. Usually she had to clean up in cold streams or in a cold shower in whatever house she was scavenging in, but now, to have the option of a nice warm shower, left her happily trotting her way into the bathroom.

Okay, so maybe this place wasn’t so bad after all she thought while stripping off her clothes. She knew she’d get scolded later for having gotten her wound wet, but she didn’t really care at the moment since the sound of scrubbing off a week’s worth of dirt was just too tempting. After letting the water warm up, Emma stepped into the shower stall and let out a soft moan as the water cascaded over her body. She scrubbed her body and hair clean with the soaps that were in the stall, nothing with too much fragrance to it, but that didn’t bother her. She didn’t really care for soaps that were overly fruity anyway.

She took her time in the shower, letting the warm waters rush over her and ease some of the aches she had in her muscles. It had to be well over an hour before she finally turned the water off and stepped out, her hand reaching for a towel that was sat on the edge of the sink. It was scratchy and small, but it did it’s job. It was after dressing in clean clothes, and wrapping new gauze around her shoulder(which was easier said than done), that she fell back into her new bed, her eyes closed as she sprawled out. Yeah, this place wasn’t bad. She still preferred her little cabin, but this would make due for now.


	5. Surprise

“You waiting for her to do a trick?” Jacob finally asked after watching Emma watch Venus closely for a few minutes. The wolf was just laying there on his office floor, her golden eyes looking at Emma curiously. The other wolves were laying around them in various spots in the room, with Roman once again on the bed. It’d only been two days since he’d been shot and Emma still insisted he stay down. 

“Does she look like she’s getting fat?” Emma shot him a glance over her shoulder, her lips pursed. 

Blinking, both surprised and confused by the question, Jacob looked over the wolf with a tilted head. She was a lean, healthy beast and didn’t seem to have a lick of fat on her. His gaze soon landed on her stomach, though, and he paused, eyes now narrowed as he looked at the slight swell of it. “She pregnant?” he finally asked with a raised brow. His question made Emma perk up and scoot closer, her hand soon resting on Venus’ belly.

“Her belly is bigger…” she muttered, a grin slowly growing on her face. “Ah! Are we gonna have more wolves in our pack?” she cooed at the alpha, her hands cradling the wolf’s massive head. A soft, happy whine could be heard coming from Venus and it made her smile all the more. “Oh, I hope so. You’d make a great mother!” Emma continued to coo praises at the wolf in front of her, her fingers scratching behind her ears.

Watching the display, Jacob couldn’t help but shake his head as he soon returned to his paperwork. More wolves would be welcomed by him. They kept Emma safe, kept her happy, and those where two things he wanted for her. He still found it hard to believe the innocent, young woman sitting on the floor had fallen into his life. He also found it hard to believe he wanted nothing but to keep her by his side anymore. She was one thing that made him still feel human. Made him feel at all.

Her soft voice pulled him out of his thoughts and made him look up at her curiously. “What?” he questioned, having not heard what she’d asked him.

“What would you think of having pups roaming the halls of the center?” she repeated her question with a small smile playing on her face.

With a thoughtful look on his face, Jacob set down his pen and leaned back in his chair. “Probably be entertaining to see em chase after my men,” he shrugged his shoulders. “Be fine with me as long as they don’t destroy anything.” He had enough people in his life doing that, he didn’t need pups doing it, too.

Humming softly, Emma nodded her head before laying back on the floor, her head resting on Venus. “Would you help me name them?”

This question caught him off guard, a look of surprise crossing his face momentarily as he looked over his desk at her. “Could think of a few names, I suppose,” he muttered out. 

“Good! Cus I’m thinking, if she is pregnant, she’ll have a big litter.” Venus was healthy and in her prime, she’d surely have a good size litter of pups, and Emma knew she’d need help with names. “Besides, you’re part of the pack now so you gotta pitch in with names,” she declared, her eyes glancing over at Jacob to see he was, once again, surprised. 

So, he was part of her little pack now? “That right?” he hummed out, a smirk on his face.

“Roman and Venus accept you, so it’s official. Welcome to the family,” she laughed out while slowly sitting up. “They seem to like Joseph, so I think they’ll warm up quick to him. We’ll see about John and Faith, though,” she grinned. 

Shaking his head, Jacob let out a huff of a laugh. “I’m honored to be accepted,” he mused, though he truly was. He knew how much it meant to Emma for the wolves to accept him, and now that they had he knew she had to be excited and happy.

“You should be! Not every day they allow another human into the pack. Just shows I was right, too.”

Raising a brow, he glanced up at her with a curios expression. “Right ‘bout what?” he inquired slowly.

“That you’re a good man. They wouldn’t allow anyone but near me,” she smiled.

Her statement made him pause, his eyes searching her face for… well he wasn’t really sure. He wasn’t a good man, yet here was a sweet, kind woman saying he was. She must have seen the doubt that crept onto his face as he saw her expression soften some. 

“They say dogs are a good judge of character, right? Wolves have to apply to that saying as well,” she declared with a nod of her head. “If you were a truly bad man, they would have attacked you right off the bat when we first met.”

While he was slow to respond, he soon nodded his head slightly. The fact the wolves had allowed him to get closer to Emma had to say something. They were protective, fiercely so, and Jacob had seen it first hand when one of his men had tried to grab her arm. He hadn’t even been able to react before Dixon had latched onto the man’s hand, crushing the fragile bones between his teeth. And he knew the five wolves would have easily killed him that day in the clearing had they wanted to.

“Jacob?” 

He heard her call his name softly and looked up to see an unsure expression on her face, something that made him frown. 

“You okay..?” she asked tentatively, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. 

“M’fine,” he muttered out with a nod of his head, “just thinking.” 

Leaving it at that, Emma simply nodded as she slowly got to her feet. She knew better than to try and push for an answer. If he wanted to tell her his thoughts then he would. “So…” she started hesitantly, now standing in the doorway leading to the balcony. “I have a question about the project, if that’s alright.”

Turning so he could look at her, Jacob watched her closely as she looked down into the courtyard. “S’pose so,” he grunted out. 

“Why are those people in cages?” she asked softly. “What did they do?”

Sighing softly, Jacob stood from his chair and walked over to Emma to stand behind her, his eyes glancing between the cages below them. “They killed innocent members of the project simply because they don’t believe in Joseph,” he started lowly, his body brushing against hers as he stepped out onto the balcony. “They’ve sinned against us and are being punished” he stated simply. Hearing her step up beside him, he shot a glance down at her, expecting disgust, but instead was met with a glare towards the people he had imprisoned.

“They killed just cus’ they don’t believe him?” she asked softly, her hands gripping the railing tightly, a frown on her face. When she received a nod in return from Jacob, her frown deepened. “I may not believe him, but I don’t go killing people…”

“They’re bad people, Emma. You’re not,” Jacob said with a shrug, his arms now crossed over his chest. He saw her look up at him, brows furrowed in thought. 

“And what happens to them next?” 

Looking below him once more, Jacob shifted on his feet as he thought of how to answer her question. “They’re given a chance to join the project,” he finally answered gruffly. “And if they don’t pass, or refuse to join…” he paused, a thought running through his head. Would she shy away from him when she heard the truth? Take back what she had said about him being a ‘good man’? “They’re killed,” he stated simply, deciding it best to put it bluntly. He didn’t, and wouldn’t, sugar coat it. Not even for her.

When she didn’t answer him after a few moments, he risked a glance in her direction and saw her standing there with narrowed eyes. Had he lost his chance with her? When she finally opened her mouth, he expected to hear her argue with him that what he was doing was wrong, instead he got an answer of understanding. 

“If you don’t kill the threat against your pack, it’ll only come back,” she uttered softly, her eyes flickering up to meet his. “Roman’s had to kill a few lone wolves that had proved to be a problem. He tried to let them join the pack, but they quickly fought him for his rank and mate, or tried to harm me, and he wasn’t going to allow any of it. He gave them the chance to run, but when they didn’t, he killed them. Had he not, they probably would have just come back and caused problems down the line…” she explained, lifting one shoulder in a shrug. “I understand,” she assured, “it has to be done for the safety of the pack.”

Nodding his head slowly, Jacob soon found himself staring down at her, a small smirk playing on his lips. “Exactly. Eliminate the threat before it’s given the chance to grow. It’s for the best.” He was quickly growing more and more fond of this woman the longer he spent time with and spoke to her. She didn’t see things that were simply necessary as immoral or wrong. She got that, sometimes, there had to be sacrifices.

“You’re staring,” she murmured, a grin spreading across her face as she glanced up at the man beside her. This, of course, made Jacob grumble something out as he turned his head to look over the courtyard once more. It was amusing to see him, a man who was such a hard ass, drop his defenses every now and then around her. It was nice to see it. She had a feeling that it wasn’t often he got to simply relax and enjoy life. Enjoy a simple conversation such as this. The project seemed to keep his mind, and body, busy at all times. 

“Not that I’m opposed,” she chuckled out while turning and walking into the office. She could feel his eyes on her as she walked over to her wolves and sat on the floor with them once more. He was a bit of a tough nut to crack, but every day, especially now since she was at the center with him, his tough exterior seemed to soften a bit more around her. But only around her. He still barked orders at his men constantly and ruthlessly trained them.

\----------

Being out in the courtyard was still rather new to her, but she was getting tired of being cooped up inside. She wasn’t use to being inside all the time and was beginning to grow bored with being in her room, or Jacob’s office, constantly. So she decided to take a stroll around the yard. She had taken a brief tour around the cages to get an up close view of a Judge, her eyes wandering over the modified wolf curiously. She’d have to ask Jacob if the Bliss hurt them at all during, or even after, its use on them.

She’d felt eyes on her while walking between the cages and had caught Jacob watching her closely from his office. The wolves were out hunting, so she was currently alone as she walked around, and she had little doubt he was checking in on her. While she was beginning to get use to all the people around her, it was still such a shock to go from no human interaction to a center full of people. She appreciated it none the less. Knowing he was keeping an eye on her meant she was safe.

Slowly wandering towards the gates of the center, her eyes landed on the lake just outside its walls. Maybe she could fish there sometime, catch herself and Jacob dinner one day. A small way to show her thanks. A hand on her arm quickly brought her out of her thoughts, her eyes widening as she snapped her head in the direction of the woman now holding onto her. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” she snapped, her eyes narrowed into a glare. 

Looking like a deer in headlights for a long moment, Emma soon yanked her arm out of the woman’s hold and glared back at her. “To the lake. That a problem?”

Scoffing, the woman gave Emma a small shove backwards as she shook her head. “You’re not allowed to leave,” she declared.

Growing more irritated by the exchange, Emma shoved past the woman on her way out of the gate, growling softly as she did so. “Like hell I’m not!” she snapped. “I’m not a prisoner here, Lady. I can leave if I want to.” Just clearing the gates, she felt a hand on her arm once more, the grip much tighter now, and stumbled a bit as she was suddenly yanked backwards. 

Around them the other guards watched closely, some shifting nervously as they watched the display. They all had orders to not approach Emma unless first approached or flagged down by her, and they certainly weren’t suppose to be pushing her around.

“Listen,” the woman growled out, her face close to Emma’s. “You may have Jacob wrapped around your little finger, but I’m not about to let an outsider just wander around here. You don’t get to just come and go as you please. How do we know you’re not a spy, huh?” she ranted on, shocking Emma and making her simply stare at her thoroughly confused. “So get back inside!” With another shove, the woman forced her back into the courtyard, her eyes still narrowed.

Stumbling back, Emma soon found her back pressed against something hard and warm, and noticed the woman’s once narrowed eyes were now almost comically wide, So, with a glance upward, she realized she’d run into Jacob’s chest. 

“Jacob..?” she uttered softly, but it fell on deaf ears. The man behind her had his eyes focused on the woman who had been harassing her, and by the looks of it, he wasn’t happy. 

Sighing softly through his nose, he cocked his head to the side as he looked at the woman. She was currently trying to stumble out an explanation, her voice laced with fear. “Care to explain why you found it necessary to shove her around?” he finally asked, his voice eerily calm. This seemed to frighten the woman all the more. 

“Sir, sh-she was trying to leave,” she whimpered out. “How do we know she’s not truly a spy?”

Tsking, Jacob shook his head as he laid a hand on Emma’s shoulder and gently pushed her behind him. “A spy, huh? You think I’d let a spy in here?”

“Of course not, Jacob!”

Nodding his head, he looked over the woman with narrowed eyes. “And yet you accuse her of being one? Laid your hands on her when I told you, all of you, to not even approach her? Had the audacity to shove her around?” he questioned as he slowly stalked closer to her, his hands clasped behind his back. The woman didn’t dare move, but Emma could tell she was desperately trying not to back away from the large man advancing on her. 

“Jacob, I--” she tried to explain once more, only to be softly shushed by him. 

“See, I have an issue with people not fallowing orders,” he explained slowly, now standing in in front of the terrified woman. “And I definitely have an issue with people shoving her around,” he murmured to her right before he unseathed his knife and stabbed it into the woman’s throat. He quickly yanked it back out and allowed her to fall to the ground, listening to her gurgle as she choked to death on her own blood. “Let that be a warning to any one else who wants to ignore orders,” he stated while wiping his knife clean on his pant leg. 

With one last look around him, Jacob turned, sheathed his knife, and walked back towards the doors of the building. Everyone around him gave him a wide berth as he passed, their eyes soon landing on Emma where she stood, dumbfounded. Part of her was shocked he’d go so far as to defend her, but the other part was mildly pleased. Forgetting about the lake, she quickly trotted after Jacob and fallowed him back into his office, shutting the door quietly behind her. 

“You know,” she started softly, “you didn’t have to kill her, although it did get the point across.”

Grunting softly, Jacob glanced back at her before looking back out the window at his men who were dragging away the now lifeless body of the woman. “They know better than to disobey orders,” he said gruffly. “She needed to be an example of what will happen if they disobey my orders to not approach you. If they listen, they live. If they don’t, that will happen,” he stated with a shrug of his shoulders. Glancing over his shoulder once more, he noted the ever so small smile on Emma’s face. 

“Still, I’d rather they not fear me,” she mused. “I would like to make some acquaintances, maybe even some friends. Yeah? I don’t need the alpha scaring them all away.”

Smirking at her words, Jacob let out a soft chuckle before turning and looking at her with a raised brow. “Alpha?”

“Oh, come on. If that wasn’t a display of ‘I’m the alpha’, I don’t know what is. It’s like when Pax first joined our pack and nipped my hand. Roman put her in her place. That’s exactly what you did. Except you just killed her” she shrugged, her arms crossed over her chest. “Don’t try to deny it.”

Humming softly, Jacob leaned against his desk as he looked over her, mimicking her stance. “Like I said, they obey orders, they live. They know who’s in charge. You wanna call me ‘alpha’, that’s up to you, Sweetheart,” he chuckled, a sharp grin growing on his face when he saw her blush. He had no problem with killing his insubordinate soldiers over her, especially if it got such a reaction out of her. He rather liked it.


	6. Jealousy

Sitting cross legged on Jacob’s desk, Emma watched as he sorted paperwork out while asking the occasional question. He didn’t seem to mind her questions, or her sitting on his desk, and simply continued on with what he was doing. “So I was thinking,” she finally said, her lips pursed. 

“Bout?” he rumbled out, his eyes flicking up to meet hers. 

With a small grin, she leaned forward some and clasped her hands together. “I’d like to see one of Joseph’s sermons,” she declared. Jacob would occasionally leave the mountains to attend one of his brothers sermons and, so far, she’d always stayed behind. Now, with her curiosity growing, she wanted to go with him.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Think that’d be okay with him?” Biting her lip, she gave him a shy look, having not thought of whether or not Joseph would want her there.

Chuckling, Jacob set his papers down so he could look up at her. “Joe likes you, so I have no doubt he’d be thrilled to see you attend.” 

This got Emma to grin widely as she leaned back, clearly pleased. “And this will give me a chance to finally meet John and Faith,” she said happily. She’d yet to meet the other two siblings and was curios to know what they were like. Jacob had already told her that Faith was young, innocent and childlike. Whereas John was a bit of a diva. She wanted to form her own opinion of them both, and see if John really was as extra as Jacob had made him out to be. “Plus I want to see Joseph again. I like him,” she stated simply. 

While she hadn’t gotten to speak to him often, the few times she had gotten to see him, and sit down and talk with him, she had always enjoyed Joseph’s visits. She was always eager to hear him tell stories of the brother’s younger years, too. Some where cute, like the time they all had snuck out late at night to watch a meteorite shower, or when Jacob had tossed Joseph into a lake for no apparent reason other than because he could. Some, however, had left her blood boiling as he recounted some of the abuse they had lived through. He had told her of the first time he had heard the Voice after being beaten and that opened up to other things they had endured.

“Maybe I can get some more fun stories out of him afterwards,” she smiled. “I like the cute ones,” she admitted. She didn’t want to hear of them being abused, it was a reality that was just too heartbreaking. Jacob just smirked, grumbling out that Joseph would be happy to tell more stories. 

\----------

The night of Joseph’s sermon, Emma had loaded up with Jacob in his truck and chatted most of the way down to his compound. There hadn’t been any signs of the Deputy on the ride there, despite the fact the was still wreaking havoc in the Henbane and part of Holland Valley, which was something Jacob was glad for. He didn’t want to be out with Emma and run into the rookie. In the back of the truck rode Roman, ever alert and vigilant. Emma had insisted on bringing him, something that Jacob didn’t really mind, as she simply felt more secure having one of her wolves with her. She just hoped Joseph didn’t mind the wolf being inside his church.

When they finally arrived, she stared at everyone gathering outside with wide eyes. There were more attending than she thought there would be. Hearing Jacob exit the truck, she quickly scurried after him, sticking close to his side. Once Roman jumped from the bed, after the tailgate had been lowered for him, she watched as the wolf took in the new surroundings closely. So far he seemed comfortable at the compound, though, like Emma, was a little put off by all the people. 

“C’mon,” Jacob grunted, his hand on her shoulder as he carefully led her inside the church. At the pulpit stood Joseph, with John and Faith off to his right. No one else was in the church yet and this gave Emma a few minutes to get to know the last two Seed siblings. 

Once he turned to greet his brother, Joseph’s eyes widened when he spotted Emma, his smile growing as he held his arms out to her. “Emma! You’ve decided to join us!” Clearly happy to see her, he stepped closer and placed his hands on her shoulders before leaning in to touch his forehead to hers. It was a gesture she had seen many times between he and Jacob, but this was the first time he’d done it to her. She appreciated it greatly as it made her feel accepted and like she was part of Jacob’s little pack.

“Happy to be here, Joseph,” she said softly, “I hope you don’t mind Roman being here.” 

With a shake of his head, Joseph offered the wolf his hand and watched, with a pleased look on his face, as the alpha nudged his nose against the offered hand. “Of course not, Emma. He is always welcome, just as you are. But come with me,” he told her as he placed a hand on her shoulder. Walking with her towards John and Faith, he introduced them while giving Emma’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. He knew new people frightened her still.

“It’s so nice to meet you,” Faith all but chirped, a large smile on her face as she floated over to Emma. “It’s great to _finally_ have another girl around,” she laughed out, her hands reaching out to take hold of both of Emma’s. “Being stuck around boys all the time is no fun,” she pouted, something that made the other girl giggle softly.

With a smile on her face, Emma gave Faith’s hands a gentle squeeze, already feeling at ease with the perky, young woman. “It’s nice to meet you, too, Faith. Jacob’s told me a little about you, but I hope we can get to know each other better sometime.” Hearing the other woman agree, she soon turned to John and smiled at him as well. He was a good looking man, but she could quickly tell he was a bit of a diva. “It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, John,” she spoke lightly, a blush forming on her face as he gave her a charming smile.

“The pleasure is all mine, Emma,” John all but purred out. From over her shoulder he could see the glare that Jacob shot his way, and that only made him smirk. So, big brother didn’t like that, did he? “Why don’t you tell me- us,” he quickly corrected, “a little about yourself?”

Swallowing hard, she glanced back at Jacob, a simple way to reassure herself, before turning her attention back to the youngest Seed. “I… There isn’t much to know, really,” she shrugged, her bottom lip soon caught between her teeth. “Besides, Joseph has his sermon to do.” Her answer made John pout some, but he was soon smiling again at her as he whisked her away to one of the front pews. 

“Come, sit up here,” he insisted, “that way you’re close to us. To help make you feel more at ease.” Glancing up at his eldest brother, John grinned smugly as he helped Emma choose a seat up close to the pulpit. Close to where he stood and away from Jacob.

With a grateful look, Emma sat and motioned Roman closer. The wolf had been standing beside Jacob, his watchful eyes focused in on John as he got closer to his human. He wasn’t sure about that one. The new woman seemed harmless, but the new man was one he’d keep a close eye on for a while. As the wolf approached, John stepped back, his eyes wide for a brief moment when he saw the animal seemingly glare at him. He’d been so focused on Emma he hadn’t even seen the beast.

When people began to file in, she noticed Jacob take his spot in a corner that was opposite of where she sat. This made her frown as she had been hoping she’d be sitting closer to him. She felt safe when she was near him, but she’d make due for the time being. Roman was by her at least.

Throughout the sermon, Emma couldn’t help but notice not only Jacob’s eyes on her every now and then, but John’s as well. The eldest Seed was vigilantly watching over the masses, but he still kept a close eye on her as well. John, however, seemed to take little interest in anything but her, and it made her nibble on her lip. Sure she found him handsome, but he wasn’t Jacob.

Listening as Joseph spoke, she could easily see how people believed in every word he said. He was passionate as he spoke and had his own flair in how he preached. It was interesting and Emma enjoyed it thoroughly. She noted how those around her hung onto every word he spoke, sitting on the edge of their seats as their Father preached about the end that was supposedly coming. She still didn’t fully buy it, but she wasn’t about to argue with any of them. It just wasn’t worth it. Why argue with ones personal beliefs? There was so many more productive things one could do besides argue over such silly things.

It was only when Joseph’s sermon began to wrap up that he spoke her name and gestured to her. “This is the newest member of our family,” he smiled. “She is not fully apart of this project, but she is to be loved and cherished and protected just as if she were.” Soft murmurs echoed throughout the church, and for a moment Emma wondered if she would be accepted by the others of Joseph’s flock. A hand on her shoulder made her turn, worry in her eyes as she pictured a look of anger on whoever was behind her. Instead she was greeted by a look of kindness from an elderly woman, her smile instantly causing Emma to smile as well. 

“Welcome, young one.” The woman spoke clear enough so that everyone in the church could hear her, and after that Emma began to hear the others welcome her with open arms. With a blush tinting her cheeks, she bowed her head as she smiled widely, thanking the people around her for their kindness. Looking back up at Joseph, she saw the look of pride upon his face, the look of love for his people and for her.

“Thank you,” she whispered to him, and by the way he nodded his head, she knew he had heard her. Those who passed her on their way out of the church once the sermon had ended laid their hands on her shoulder, their own way of welcoming her into the family. Stepping over to Joseph, she gave him a shy smile as she peered up at him, her hands clasped behind her back.

“You didn’t have to do that, you know,” she murmured, “but thank you.” 

Smiling warmly, Joseph laid his hands on her shoulders and gave them a careful squeeze. “You are family, Emma. It is best they know this so they can help you should you ever need it. Protect you from those who wish to harm us.”

“Thank you, Joseph,” her smile grew as she noticed Jacob walk over to her, “for everything.” 

\----------

“I like John and Faith,” Emma spoke up randomly as she and Jacob made their way back up into the Whitetails. 

“That so?”

With a soft hum, she bobbed her head as she glanced over at the gruff man beside her. His eyes were trained on the road, but she noticed him peeking over at her every now and then. “Faith is sweet, and I think we’ll get alone great. John is funny and charming, but is just as much of a diva as you said he would be,” she laughed out. She never noticed the way Jacob frowned at her words nor did she noticed how his hand tightened around the steering wheel. “And I like Joseph more and more. He’s very kind.”

After the sermon, she and the Seeds took some time to talk amongst one another. Joseph had needed to go over something with Jacob, so that had left her with Faith and John. She had enjoyed her talk with the two of them, and even found out a bit of what they did within the project. She had to admit she didn’t quite like the smell of Bliss that seemed to cling to Faith, but after finding out she was the one who produced it, it made sense as to why she smelt of it. She still didn’t like it, though. As for John, she found he was the Baptist. She learned he tattooed the sins of others onto their bodies, which was something she found interesting. It was such a peculiar thing to do, she thought, but again, who was she to judge?

As they visited, she couldn’t help but notice as John tried to not so subtly flirt with her. It left Faith shaking her head and Emma chuckling softly at his attempts. None of them seemed to take notice of the glare that Jacob was burning into the back of John’s skull or how Joseph occasionally had to lay a hand on his brothers shoulder to keep him from marching over to them. Roman was even glaring at John, his eyes never leaving the man as he sidled up closer to his human. That wouldn’t do.

With a soft growl, Roman pushed his way between John and Emma before sitting beside her, his head turned as he stared at the youngest Seed. It was his way of saying he wasn’t allowed near her, and it was something that made Jacob smirk. The wolf would at least keep John in check whenever he wasn’t around.

“I don’t think Roman likes John,” Emma mused, her eyes glancing in the rearview mirror at the wolf currently laying in the bed of the truck. “Makes me wonder why, he seems nice.” Beside her Jacob let out a soft grunt and mumbled something under his breath. She couldn’t quite hear it, but she knew it had to do with his little brother. Giggling softly, she looked over at him with a teasing smile on her face. “Are we jealous?”

Shooting her an unamused look, Jacob grumbled something out that made her raise a brow at him. “What would I be jealous of?” he finally asked, his voice all but a low growl. “John’s not that special, Sweetheart.”

Blushing, Emma fidgeted with her fingers nervously as she glanced over at a grumpy looking Jacob. She couldn’t figure out why he’d get so jealous over his brother unless… unless he liked her? Biting the inside of her cheek, she snuck a glance at Jacob once more as she tried to hide a smile. He had to. He had to like her to be acting so cranky now. It gave her some hope that maybe, just maybe, she was growing on him just as much he had on her.

Little did she realize that he’d seen her try to hide the smile that tugged at her lips, but it left Jacob with a different feeling inside him other than hope. Instead it left him with dread. To him, she was playing with him. She liked John now, how couldn’t she? He was the good looking one. The one closer in age to her, too, whereas he had two decades on her. And that smile just meant she was having fun teasing him about it, right? Of course it did, he decided, his teeth grit. He was a fool to think someone like her would be interested in a man like him.

\----------

“Jacob!” Emma called out while rushing to his office, a huge grin on her face. He’d been acting distant ever since the night she’d gone to the sermon with him, which was nearly five days ago, but she was sure her news would brighten him up some. “Jacob!” she all but giggled out as she opened his office door, a bright smile on her face. “Guess wh--,” her words died on her lips as she noticed another man in the room, one with dark hair and a deputies uniform on.

Now on guard, her eyes searched for Jacob and found him standing at the map hung on the wall, his back to her. “Jacob..?” she called out warily, her gaze once again locked on the new man. She didn’t like him.

“He won’t hurt you,” Jacob grumbled out, “he wouldn’t dare. Would ya, Peaches?” he taunted, his eye never leaving the map as he marked something on it. 

“N-No, Sir,” ‘Peaches’ stuttered out. 

Swallowing hard, Emma skirted along the edge of the room until she reached Jacob’s side. “Who is he?” she asked lowly, her body just about touching his. 

With a glance down at the woman beside him, Jacob shifted away from her subtly before answering. “Staci Pratt. Was one of the ones that tried to arrest Joseph,” he answered shortly, his tone terse.

Instantly glaring at Pratt, she let out a small growl as she looked him over, noting the bruises on his face and his gaunt features. “Has he been here the whole time..?”

Sighing through his nose, he turned and paced back to his desk, leaving Emma to stand alone by the wall. “Yeah, been in a cage for a while. Now that he knows his place, he’s allowed out.” Picking up a few folders, he glanced at her with a raised brow. “There something you need? Could hear you hollering all the way down the hall.”

Perking up, Emma nodded her head, a grin growing on his face as she trotted over to Jacob. “Venus is definitely pregnant,” she practically cheered, “her belly seems to be getting bigger everyday!” She had been hoping he’d find the news as exciting as she had, but when all he did was hum softly with a nod of his head, she couldn’t help but deflate some.

“She’ll have strong pups.” Then, with that, he started towards the door, stating something about needing to send troops down to assist Faith. Watching as Pratt fallowed dutifully after Jacob, Emma sighed as she leaned against his desk. Well, he was a lot less excited than he had been before, which hadn’t been very much to begin with, but maybe he was just having a stressful day. That had to be it. He got stressed out quite often anymore thanks to the rookie deputy running around, but this was odd even for him.

Deciding to leave Jacob alone for the rest of the day, Emma wandered behind the vet’s center, outside the large, stone fence, with her wolves. There were moose back there she liked to watch, as well as plenty of wonderful spots to sun in. So now, with the wolves surrounding her, she lay on her back in the sun, her eyes closed peacefully and her head resting on Roman’s side. Soon enough she was drifting off, the sounds of nature lulling her to sleep. 

When she finally came to, she quickly realized she’d fallen asleep for a few hours, the sun showing it was high noon. Stretching and yawning, she sat up and cracked her back before hopping to her feet. Starting her way back around the fence, the wolves quickly fallowed suite and trotted ahead of her with Pax running off ahead of them all. This quickly got the others to run off as well with Emma trying to catch up. Her stride, while fast, just not quite fast enough to keep up with her four legged friends. 

They were back in the courtyard before she was, but once she rounded the corner and entered the gate, she spotted the wolves clamoring for Jacob’s attention. Pax was all but climbing over the other to get to him, and despite his face not showing it, Emma knew he was enjoying the display. It was when she finally came into view that it changed.

“The hell have you been?”

The question made her pause, a frown tugging at the corners of her mouth from his tone. “I--We were out back,” she replied while gesturing behind her. “I thought I’d give you space today, you seemed stressed…” 

Sighing, Jacob shook his head as he straightened himself after patting the wolves. “Thought you left,” he grunted out. He didn’t want to show it, but he’d been worried she’d ran off back into the forest. 

A smile grew on her face quickly as she shook her head, chuckling softly. “Can’t get rid of me that easily,” she laughed. She watched as he nodded, turned, and gestured for her to fallow after him, something she did without hesitation. The wolves fallowed along after their humans, Pax trotting by Jacob’s side, as they made their way back inside.

“I want you to be careful from now on,” Jacob spoke up suddenly, his tone stern and serious. “There’s been a few signs of the deputy in the mountains,” he sighed out, clearly annoyed and stressed. “He hasn’t caused too much trouble up here yet, but still keep your guard up.”

Nodding her head, Emma glanced up at him before softly promising that she would. She didn’t like the thought of that man being up in the mountains. She wanted him dead and gone, quite frankly. “If there’s any way I can ever help--”

“No,” Jacob interrupted, immediately shooting her down. “You’re not going to endanger yourself. My men can handle this, so don’t worry about it. Just focus on keeping yourself, and the wolves, safe. Understand?”

It was easy to tell her wasn’t going to take ‘no’ as an answer, so Emma simply nodded her head once more. “Okay…” She didn’t want to sit around and be useless, but she also didn’t want to cause trouble or put anymore stress on Jacob’s shoulders. He had enough to worry about as it was, he didn’t need to add her to that list as well. “Just, even if it’s around here, let me know and I’ll help.”

Coming up to the office door, Emma paused and looked up at Jacob nervously. “That man still in there?” 

Smirking, Jacob just opened the door and stepped in, fallowed by a hesitant Emma. Once she realized they were alone, she gave a sigh of relief, her eyes drifting over to Jacob as she watched him wander over to the map once more. She’d have to ask what all the locations marked on it meant sometime, but for now, she had something else on her mind.

“So I was thinking,” she started, waiting until he’d shot a look over his shoulder to show he was listening. “I was wondering if… I wanted to know…” Sighing in frustration, Emma seemed to be having an internal battle with herself before finally she all but marched over to Jacob and wrapped her small hand around his wrist. This really caught his attention and caused him to turn around, his brow raised at her. Standing on her tip toes, she pressed her lips to his hesitantly, her eyes squeezed shut.

The move shocked Jacob and made him freeze, but just as she was about to pull away, she felt a hand roughly cup the back of her head. Whimpering softly, she eagerly kissed him back, gasping softly as she was suddenly pinned to the wall. The kiss was sloppy, but Emma was quickly getting the hang of it as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her while his hand still held the back of her neck. Feeling his free hand grip her hip, she couldn’t help herself as she pressed her body closer to his, a fire quickly building deep inside of her.

But then it all stopped. Jacob pulled back from her, his eyes widening briefly before they narrowed dangerously at her. Releasing her, he took a long step back, continuing to stare hard at her, while she looked at him in utter confusion. Had she done something wrong?

“Jacob..?” she uttered out softly, her hand hesitantly reaching for him as she took a cautious step forward. Watching as he sneered at her, she called out to him once more as he turned and walked out of his office, utterly heartbroken. Leaning back against the wall, she bit her lower lip to keep it from quivering, tears welling up in her eyes from the look of pure contempt he had had on his face. Maybe he hadn’t really meant to kiss her.

Maybe he didn’t feel the same way about her as she did for him. Sluggishly pushing herself off the wall, she aimlessly wandered out of the room and down the hall in search for her wolves. She did this all while trying to stay out of sight of any of Jacob’s men, she didn’t want to deal with them now. All she wanted to do was wallow and hide with her pack.


	7. Leaving

“Where are you going?”

She heard Jacob ask from behind her, his tone showing a hint of concern in it. Pausing, Emma sighed and glanced over her shoulder, a saddened look in her eyes. “Home, Jacob. I’m going home,” she finally answered softly. In her hand was her rucksack, all of her clothes and belongings stuffed inside. Around her stood her wolves, their eyes now trained on Jacob as he stepped closer.

“The deputy is still out there, Emma. It isn’t safe,” he argued, taking long strides to stand in front of her. 

“Jacob don’t, please…” she pleaded, her eyes downcast. “I’m not in the mood to argue.” 

Growling softly, Jacob crossed his arms over his chest as he stared down at her, his eyes narrowed. “Then tell me why you’re suddenly leaving.” 

With another sigh, she looked up at the man before her, a sad smile on her face. “Because this is the most you’ve spoken to me in well over two weeks, Jacob. Ever since I kissed you, you’ve ignored me. You’re always too busy to take two minutes to talk to me, and I’m just… I’m done.” Shaking her head, she glanced off to the side before looking back up at him. “I came here to keep my pack safe, and because of you, and if you’re just going to suddenly shun me… I’ll be safe at my cabin. We’ll be safe there. I’ll just have to be a bit more cautious finding food, but I can handle that,” she shrugged. 

“I haven’t been ‘ignoring’ you,” Jacob bit back. “Besides, I don’t exactly care for being played with.”

This left Emma confused, and it showed on her face. “What? Played with? What are you talking about?”

“That kiss, Sweetheart,” he growled, and Emma frowned. Usually when he called her ‘Sweetheart’ it made her heart flutter, but now it just sounded bitter on his tongue. “I don’t know what you were playing at, but--”

“Playing at?” she interrupted, a look of exasperation on her face. “I wasn’t playing at anything! I kissed you because I like you, you moron!” she snapped before shoving past him, leaving him shocked. “Fucking ‘playing at’,” she ranted, “I can’t believe you said that. Do you think me so damn callus?” she continued to mutter to herself as she made her way down the main stairway. “Can’t believe this,” she shook her head, “last time I show anyone any damn interest.” 

Inside she was hurt. She knew Jacob was a tough one to read and get through to, but to think he actually thought she had ulterior motives behind her kiss broke her heart. Swallowing hard, she just about made it to the door before a hand gripped her upper arm. Pausing once more, Emma threw a glare over her shoulder to see Jacob standing there, his brows furrowed. “No, Jacob. Just… lemme go,” she grumbled while trying to shake his surprisingly gentle hand off. “You’ve made it pretty damn clear you don’t want me here anymore, so let go.”

“No,” he said simply, his tone now stern. “You’re not going out there where you could get hurt.”

Spinning around, she glared at him while pointing a finger at his chest. “You are not my keeper, Jacob! I am not some damsel in distress that needs rescuing! And you most certainly are not going to keep me here,” she hissed out, thoroughly done with this whole situation. Turning once more, she marched towards the door only to have it open and reveal a smiling John. His smile faltered once he saw Emma in front of him with her rucksack in hand, a distraught look on her face. “Move, John,” she muttered while trying to push past him. 

“Whoa, whoa, where are you going?” he sputtered out, his eyes going between her and his brother. 

“Home,” was all she said as she made her way down the front stairs, her wolves filing out of the door behind her. 

“Well you certainly can’t leave just yet, you haven’t heard the exciting news!” John called out as he trotted up beside her. 

Groaning softly, she looked up at John, who was pulling his best puppy dog eyes, and relented. “What exciting news?” she sighed out, a small smile pulling at her lips.

“I thought I would throw a little get together, a party of sorts, tonight, and have you come. Surely that sounds fun, doesn’t it?”

“A party? Now? We’re in the middle of a war, John,” Jacob spoke up, annoyance clear in his voice.

“It’ll boost moral, brother!” John argued, his hands clapped together. 

“John…” he said in warning, only to be cut off once again by Emma. 

“I think it sounds great. It certainly would boost moral,” she agreed. Truth be told, she didn’t really think that. She thought it unnecessary, but it annoyed Jacob and she was feeling petty.

Grinning, John turned his attention back to the woman beside him. “So you’ll come?”

Laughing softly, Emma shook her head slightly. “Doesn’t really sound like my kind of thing, John. But have fun with it,” she smiled. 

“And how do you know it’s not your type of thing, hm?” he argued playfully, something that earned him a glare from his brother. 

“Well… I don’t, I guess,” Emma muttered, spotting a grumpy looking Jacob from the corner of her eye. 

Bending down some to her level, John rose a brow as he looked at her, his lips spread into a wide grin. “Then come. If you want to leave, at any time, I’ll bring you back up to the mountains,” he proposed.

“Promise?” she rose a brow, looking unsure still. 

“Promise,” he grinned. 

Biting her lip, she glanced down briefly before meeting John’s eyes once more. “Alright, alright. One condition: Roman comes with.” She watched as he glanced down at the black wolf, his lips pursed. “And he can be inside,” she added quickly. 

“If it was anyone else, I would say ‘no’, but since it’s you,” he mused with a charming smile, “okay.” 

“Then deal,” she nodded her head. 

Clearly pleased with himself, John shot a smug look at Jacob, something that made the older man scowl all the more. 

“This isn’t a good idea, John,” Jacob ground out. “Now is not the time to have a damn party. The deputy could strike when you’ve got your guard down. And worse, you’d be putting her in danger,” he nodded towards Emma. 

Now it was her turn to scowl, a glare set on Jacob. “Like I said, I’m not a damsel in distress.” 

Sensing the tension between the two, John shot his brother a smirk before placing a hand on her shoulder, turning her away from Jacob, his charming smile on back on his face. “Ignore him, Emma. He’s never been much fun. Now, why don’t we head down to my home, hm? Get ready for tonight,” he suggested. Nodding her head, Emma didn’t even glance back at Jacob as she agreed with John. “Perfect!” Giving his brother one last look, he smiled at him before turning and leading Emma to his truck. “You’re invited as well, Jacob,” he called out over his shoulder.

Watching as Emma knelt down to her wolves, they soon ran off, undoubtedly heading back to the cabin in the forest, while Roman jumped into the bed of the truck once she motioned for him to. Jacob watched as John opened the truck door for her and growled low in his throat, calling out to her before she had the chance to climb in. “Emma, don’t do this,” his voice was gruff, but beneath it was almost a pleading tone. There were numerous reasons why he didn’t want her to go to this party, and one of the biggest ones was standing right next to her. 

“We’ll be fine, Jacob,” she muttered before getting into the truck. She never saw the triumphant look John shot at his brother, nor did she see the worried look Jacob had in his eyes. 

He knew how his brother was, and John wasn’t just looking to have a party to ‘boost moral’. Jacob had seen the way he looked at Emma, and he didn’t like it. He knew that look, he’d seen it many times when his brother found an attractive woman he wanted to conquer. But now he had to watch as the two drove off, his chest feeling tight. He worried about the deputy attacking this party, worried for Emma’s safety, and now he had to worry about his own brother trying something on her. Or worse, having her think the youngest Seed was better suited for her. He would lose her to John…

\----------

Parties, Emma decided, were truly not a thing for her. She was having a fun time, but the amount of people packed into one place was overwhelming. Claustrophobic even. She stuck close to John and was grateful that his attention seemed to be mainly on her. He’d mingle with the others in his house, but for the most part he was talking with her. At one point he’d asked her to dance, something she immediately shied away from. 

“I don’t know how, John,” she laughed out after he persisted, earning herself a pout.

Grinning at her confession, John grabbed her hand and gently tugged her towards him. “Then let me show you!” he insisted, that charming smile on his face once more. 

Looking up at him, Emma couldn’t help but bite her lip, an unsure look on her face. What if she just ended up tripping them both? Sucking in a deep breath, she let it out before nodding her head. “Okay, okay! Teach me how to dance,” she smiled. Feeling his hands on her hips, she couldn’t help but swallow hard, her eyes locked on his. 

“If you want to stop, tell me,” he said in a low voice as he began to sway her to the beat of the music that was playing. 

Managing to step on his foot twice, Emma quickly wanted to call it quits, but with a few gentle reassurances from John, she soon was moving with him in sync. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she couldn’t keep the grin off her face when she finally got the hang of it, her steps smooth as she danced around the room with him. Some joined in with them while others stood on the sidelines and watched, a worry free air all around them. For the time being they could forget they were at war with the resistance and simply have a bit of fun.

The pair never noticed Jacob entering the ranch and continued their dance, John becoming more daring as he dipped Emma. This move made her squeal softly and cling to him, her loud laughter bringing a large smile to his face. She could feel eyes on her as she moved with John, but she simply thought it was those around them watching. She was having too much fun to let their stares bother her. After John dipped her again, however, was when she notice the large red head standing near the doorway, an unreadable expression on his face.

Once upright again, Emma patted John’s shoulder lightly, a frown now on her face. “I um, I need some air,” she announced over the music. With a worried look on his face, John watched as she quickly unwrapped her arms from him and trotted off, making a quick exit out the back. He didn’t understand why she left so abruptly until he spotted his brother chasing after her. Scowling, he made his way towards the door as well, determined to tell his brother off for scaring her away.

\----------

Fleeing the house, Emma darted for the one place that always made her feel at home: the woods. She hadn’t expected to see Jacob here. She figured he’d stay in the Whitetails and brood. Instead he was chasing after her, his footsteps closing in on her. “Leave me alone, Jacob!” she snapped once she finally came to a stop, her eyes narrowed into a glare once she’d turned to look at him. He was just stepping through the trees, his eyes narrowed at her.

“Not a chance. I’m not gonna lose you to John,” he grunted out while stepping closer to her. Watching her with John, seeing how she all but clung to him while they danced, it left him green with envy. And to see his little brother all over her, well, it took every ounce of will in him not to march over and beat him.

Growling softly, Emma was soon backed up against a tree, a sour expression on her face. “I’m not some sort of prize, Jacob!” she spat out, fury now set in her eyes. “You don’t just get to come here and say shit like that, especially after the way you treated me. I didn’t do a damn thing wrong and you ignored me. You had the audacity to say I was playing with you!” she cried out, tears of frustration welling up in her eyes. “I don’t like John, I like you, but you had to be the biggest idiot ever and shove me--”

Her words were cut off by Jacob pressing his lips to hers in a rough kiss. Emma wanted to be angry with him. She wanted to continue to tell him off and call him an idiot a few more times, but all of that died the moment he kissed her. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she felt him press her further into the tree, its jagged bark digging into her back. His hands smoothed down her sides, causing a shiver to run down her spine, before he picked her up by the back of her thighs. 

Immediately wrapping her legs around his waist, she gasped as she felt the outline of his hardening cock press against her. With wide, doe eyes she pulled her lips from his and stared up at him, her mouth open slightly as she panted softly. “Jacob..?” she whispered out lightly, surprise evident on her face.

With a small smirk on his lips, Jacob pressed his hips against hers harder, chuckling softly as he watched her eyes flutter shut. “Shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, Sweetheart,” he rumbled out.

Laughing lightly, she glanced up at him with an incredulous smile on her face. “You literally ignored me after I kiss you. This is a big surprise, you idiot.” Kissing him again, she sighed softly into his mouth as she began to rock her hips against his, her fingers tugging at his short hair. Feeling him harden against her quickly set a flame ablaze in her belly, something that caused her to moan softly once he trust his hips against her. “Shit, Jacob,” she whimpered out, her grip on him tightening as he rutted against her.

Soft moans and gasps left Emma’s throat every time his cock rubbed against her jean covered clit, her nails digging into the back of his neck leaving small welts. As his lips smoothed down her neck, he occasionally nipped at her soft skin, earning him a soft whine as he went. Every single noise she made left him wanting more and more of her, and it wasn’t long before he was grunting softly as he picked up the pace of his thrusts. Feeling the knot in her belly wind tighter, she was soon crying out as her orgasm took her by surprise. Letting her high crash through her, she clenched her eyes shut as she clung to Jacob for dear life, her forehead pressed against his shoulder. 

Slowly coming back down to Earth, Emma let out a soft, whimsical laugh as she peered up at him. “That was…” she breathed out, a grin tugging at her lips. 

Smirking, Jacob squeezed her ass before slowly lowering her down onto shaky legs, a chuckle rumbling deep in his chest. “That was nothing,” he growled out, shrugging his jacket off before tossing it behind him. He had every intention of taking her right here, right now, and making her his. A soft shuffle in the bushes behind them, however, quickly had his back stiffening, his head whipping around towards the source of the noise. Like hell if he was going to have an audience to this. Figuring at first it would be Roman, who was probably wondering where his human went, he growled when he noticed a human shape in the shadows.

After giving Emma’s arm a reassuring squeeze, he quickly strode over to the figure, grabbing them by the back of their shirt as they attempted to flee. He expected some random project member, someone who thought they’d get a free show, but what he got was John, a down right terrified expression on his face. Attempting to stammer out an explanation, Jacob was quick to silence him by shoving him against a tree, leveling him with a hard stare.

Swallowing loudly, John tossed Emma, who looked completely embarrassed, a hopeful look. Jacob was quick to redirect his attention with another rough shove. “Don’t look at her,” he growled out, sounding more animal than man. “You look at me and tell me what the hell you think you were doing.” 

“I came looking for Emma. I wanted to make sure you hadn’t upset her too badly,” John managed to all but squeak out.

Sneering at his little brother, Jacob pulled him away from the tree and gave him a good push backwards, making him stumble. “Bullshit, John. How long have you been standing there?” Once again the youngest Seed tried to stammer out an explanation, but Jacob was quick to shut him up as he took a step forward. With a dangerous look in his eyes, he pointed at his brother as he advanced on him. “I’m giving you five seconds to turn around and run, John. I ever catch you watching us- her, like that again, I’ll snap your damn neck.” 

Not taking any chances, John was quick to turn on his heel and scurry off without so much as a glance over his shoulder. He knew not to challenge Jacob, especially not now when Emma was involved. 

“He was there the whole time, wasn’t he?” Emma asked hesitantly, her bottom lip caught between her teeth.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Jacob sighed and nodded his head slightly. “Probably,” he muttered out, clearly unimpressed with his baby brother. 

Grumbling under her breath, Emma shifted on her feet as she looked up at him, a sour expression on her face. “Little creep,” she mumbled out, her arms crossed over her chest. Frowning, she watched as Jacob picked up his jacket and pulled it back on, a thoughtful look soon crossing her features. Walking over to him, she wrapped her arms around his middle, her chin resting on his chest. “How bout we go back to the mountains. Maybe finish what we started?” she suggested shyly, “away from prying eyes?”

“Yeah?” Jacob asked as he placed his hands on her hips, squeezing them lightly. 

“Yeah,” she confirmed with a small grin. While she’d never been with a man, she knew she didn’t want to be with anyone but Jacob, and after feeling what he could do with their clothes still on, she was eager to see what he could do with them off. “Come on,” she murmured softly, “let’s find Roman and go home.”


	8. Together

As soon as the door was closed behind them, Jacob had her pinned against it, his lips on hers. Large hands wandered her body, groping and tugging at clothing. Her shirt was the first thing to go, being tossed aside hastily. A gasp escaped her throat the moment his hands squeezed her breasts, his thumbs running over her covered nipples, making them harden beneath his touch. Her bra was next to go, being all but ripped off her before joining her shirt on the floor.

Wrapping his lips around her nipple, Emma gasped and pushed herself closer, her breathing becoming labored. Her hands scrabbled for his jacket, eagerly pushing it off his shoulders and down his arms.

"C'mon," he grunted out, walking with her towards his bed. Pushing her down onto the bed, he watched as her breasts bounced and groaned low in his throat. He was on her instantly, his lips on hers, tongue invading her mouth. Rough hands smoothed down her sides, getting a good feel of her silky, soft skin, in their way down to the top of her pants. Deftly flicking the button of her jeans open, he pulled down the zipper before shoving them down her hips. Taking a moment to unlace her boots, he quickly pulled those, and her jeans, off and left them laying haphazardly on the floor. Nearly bare before him, Jacob leaned back, his eyes roaming her body.

His gaze made Emma squirm, her arms moving over her breasts in an attempt to cover herself. She wasn't use to someone looking at her like he was. Wasn't use to being near naked in front of someone. She couldn't help but be a little shy about it all.

"Don't," he rasped out, shaking his head, "don't cover yourself up." Uncovering her, he leaned forward to press another hot, open mouth kiss to her lips, something she moaned into instantly. Slipping his fingers beneath the elastic of her panties, he slowly pulled them down the length of her strong, slender legs, tossing them over his shoulder once he pulled them off completely. "Beautiful," he mumbled out. Trailing kisses and nips down her neck, he paid close attention to both of her breasts before he continued his way down. Her stomach rippled as his lips trailed over it, his beard scratching at her skin, making her bite back a giggle. It tickled.

She felt him press a kiss to her pubic bone and gasped, her eyes wide as she glanced down her body at him. "Jacob?" Emma questioned softly, her brows furrowed nervously.

Shushing her gently, Jacob peered up at her with a reassuring look, his thumb rubbing gentle circles into her hip bones. "It's alright." Still, he didn't move until she'd nodded her head at him. Pulling her closer to the edge of the bed, he pushed her legs apart, settling himself between them. Spreading her open with his fingers, he licked a stripe up her slick folds, drawing a shuddering gasp from her. Almost immediately he felt her fingers thread through his hair, gripping it tight as his lips wrapped around her swollen clit.

"J-Jacob," she sighed out, her eyes closed as he continued to lick and suckle at her, hips slowly rocking upwards. He put a stop to that, though, by resting his arm across her hips, keeping her still. Licking at her folds once more, he soon dove his tongue deep into her cunt, groaning loudly at the taste of her. Crying out softly at his ministrations, Emma tried, desperately, to buck her hips against his face, to get his tongue deeper. But Jacob was stubborn and kept a firm hold on her. Working his way back up to her clit, he worked his tongue around it in tight circles while one, thick finger slowly pressed into her tight heat.

Whining softly, Emma clenched down around his finger, not use to having something inside her. One finger soon became two as Jacob slowly stretched her open, crooking his fingers as he searched for that one spot that left her mewling. Finding it, he was relentless, trusting his fingers and hitting that spot over and over until he felt her walls flutter around him. Easing in a third finger, he continued to work his fingers inside of her, still suckling at her clit, until finally Emma came with a strangled cry. Helping her come down from her high slowly, he was soon pulling his fingers from her and making his way back up her body.

Panting softly, Emma stared up at him with half lidded eyes, a small smile playing on her lips. "You have too many clothes on," she mumbled, her hands tugging at the hem of his shirt. Being stopped from pulling his shirt off made her look up at him, confused. "What?" she asked softly, noting the unsure look on his face.

"You're going to want to keep that on," he muttered, his eyes averted off to the side.

Nibbling on her bottom lip, Emma soon smiled at him, her hand caressing his cheek. "I want to see you, Jacob, scars and all. How about we save the shirt for last?" She heard him sigh softly before nodding his head. Although she'd prefer his shirt off, she wouldn't push him to remove it. Motioning towards his boots, she had him kick them off before she reached for his belt. Her hands shook nervously as she undid his belt and the button of his jeans, her teeth biting into her bottom lip as she pulled the zipper down. Pushing his pants down his lean hips, Emma couldn't help but blush when she spotted the large bulge tenting his boxers. Jacob helped her get his jeans off the rest of the way before he paused, watching her closely as she nervously tugged at the top of his boxers. Finally she pulled them down, freeing his hard cock from its confines.

With his lower half now naked, she couldn't help herself as she stared at his long, girthy cock with wide, doe eyes. Sure she'd read plenty of anatomy books and had seen it all in those before, but to see it in person left her cheeks ablaze. Hearing him chuckle low in his throat pulled her from her thoughts and made her glance up at him, a cute pout on her face.

"Shut up," she grumbled out. Curiously she reached out and took his length into her hand, getting a feel for the smooth, rigid flesh. The groan that rumbled in Jacob's throat gave her the courage to run her hand down the entirety if his cock, squeezing the base, then pulling her hand back up to the head.

Suddenly being pushed into her back made her squeak, her eyes flicking up to meet his. "Can't wait," was all he managed to huff out, reaching for the hem of his shirt. He hesitated only briefly before tugging it up and over his head, showing off the scars that littered his chest and shoulders. With a gentle touch, Emma let her hand wander his chest, fingertips brushing across the patches of smooth, burned skin. He didn’t let her explore for long, however, as he was soon hovering over her, his lips pressed against hers. Spreading her legs apart with his knees, he slotted himself between them, holding himself up on one elbow. 

Feeling his cock nudge at her entrance, Emma gasped and gripped his shoulders tight, her breath hitching in her throat the moment he pressed into her. Whimpering his name softly once the head had breached her tight cunt, she looked up at him with wide eyes, a nervous expression on her face. Unconsciously her muscles tensed up, drawing a groan from Jacob as his head fell forward onto her shoulder.

“You gotta relax, Sweetheart,” Jacob rumbled out, his large hand smoothing up and down her thigh. Feeling her begin to relax under his touch, he pressed forward, making short, shallow trusts as he eased his way into her. With his eyes focused on her face, he took his time to make sure he didn’t hurt her. He was a brutal and harsh man, but like hell if he was going to hurt her now. Squirming beneath him, she tried to adjust to the feeling of his thick cock spreading her open, something so foreign and painful even. In an attempt to ground herself, she dug her nails into his shoulder, leaving red, crescent shaped marks in his skin.

With one last, hard trust, Jacob finally bottomed out with a soft grunt, his eyes shutting momentarily at the feeling of her tight cunt enveloping him. Beneath him she groaned, her head tilting back against the pillows, her eyes shut tight. It took her a few moments before she tentatively raised her hips, whimpering softly as she slowly got use to the feeling of having him buried deep inside of her. Biting her lip as he pulled out, she couldn’t help but moan softly once he pushed back in, her eyes fluttering shut as pain quickly defused into pleasure. 

Breathing out a soft curse, Emma tilted her head back once she felt his lips smooth across her collar bone, his beard scratching against her soft skin. Slinging her arms around his neck, she held Jacob as close to her as possible, her forehead pressed against his shoulder while legs wrapped themselves snuggly around his hips. With every thrust he made, she rose hers to meet his, and was quickly crying out with each push and pull of his cock. Finally the head of his cock struck the spot deep inside that left her crying for him, and he was quick to angle his hips to hit that spot again and again, his pubic bone grinding against her clit.

Hooking a hand under her knee, he pressed her leg forward towards her chest, allowing him to thrust deeper into her. Emma tugged at his short hair, nails scratching at his scalp as she chanted out his name like a prayer. She couldn’t stop the sounds that came out of her mouth if she wanted to, loud moans and cries of his name, even a scream of unbridled pleasure after one particularly hard thrust. All of Jacob’s men could hear her and she wouldn’t care. He was a bit more controlled than she was, grunting and groaning softly into her ear, his breath coming out in hot puffs against her skin. 

As his trust became harder, her breathing picked up as she let herself get lost in the feeling his weight on top of her, inside of her. His lips found hers, taking her breath away in a open mouthed kiss. He greedily swallowed her moans, only pulling away when they both desperately needed to breath. Crying out his name again and again, her nails dug into his back and neck as the knot in her belly began to form. He could tell by the way her walls fluttered and gripped him tighter that she was nearly there. 

“Come for me, Emma,” he rasped out in her ear, groaning low in his throat, his thumb now running circles around her clit. 

She could feel his cock thicken inside her, felt it throb, and she knew he had to be close. His trusts became hurried once he felt her walls tighten around him, determined to push her over the edge first. “Jacob!“ she sobbed out as she fell over the edge and came on his cock, her inner muscles clutching around his twitching length

With her cunt squeezing his cock like a vice, Jacob buried himself deep and came hard, spilling into her with a shout. He filled her to the brim with his seed, cock twitching and pulsing within her as she milked him for all his worth. Shaking beneath him, Emma whined as she felt him fill her up, her toes curling. Weakly rolling his hips, he rode them through their highs before stilling, his eyes shut and head resting on her shoulder. 

Smoothing a hand down his back, she placed a gentle kiss to the side of his head, her fingers running through his sweat slicked hair. A whine escaped her as he pulled out of her to roll onto his side, bringing Emma with him. With arms wrapped snuggly around waist, she squirmed around to face him and buried her face into his chest, inhaling his scent as she closed her eyes. Feeling safe in his arms and slowly began to drift off to sleep, a smile growing on her face as she felt him bury his nose in her hair. “G’night,” she whispered out before letting sleep take her, never hearing Jacob’s soft reply.

\----------

Waking up in Jacob’s arms had to be one of the best ways to wake up, Emma decided, her lips twitching up into a smile as she remembered, in vivid detail, lasts nights events. Glancing up at the man in front of her, her smile grew once she noticed he was still asleep, a peaceful expression on his otherwise usually hard face. With light now pouring in through the windows, and Jacob still asleep, she took the time to explore the scars on his chest. Her fingers ran through the splattering of red hair on his chest as she felt smooth flesh of where he had been burned. One scar in particular caught her interest, a long, thick one that ran from his right shoulder down to the top of his left pectoral. It looked like it had been made by a whip and she caught herself wondering if it had been made by his fathers belt. 

Jacob shifting pulled her from her thoughts, but it didn’t stop her hand from exploring as she moved on to the next scar; a large, misshapen burn mark that covered most of his left shoulder. “Having fun?” she heard him rumble out, his voice thick with sleep. Humming softly, she nodded her head as she moved her hand down his chest, her fingers splayed open. 

“You have a lot of scars to explore,” she finally spoke, a kind smile on her face as she peered up at him. Hearing him grunt in response, she focused on his body once more, shifting away from him a bit as she reached his belly. There weren’t as many scars here, and what was there were not a severe as the ones on his chest, shoulders, and, she presumed, his back. “I’d like to hear the stories of them someday. If you’re willing to share them, that is,” she murmured, her hand stopping just above his thick happy trail. 

“You won’t like em,” 

Shaking her head, she pressed a soft kiss to his chest before burying her face in it. “I know,” came her muffled reply, “I don’t like the thought of you being hurt.” Pulling away from his chest, Emma scooted up the bed a bit to place a kiss on his lips, a smile playing on her face. “Good morning,” she said lightly, her eyes shining brightly. 

Huffing out a soft breath, Jacob looked down at her, his large hand cupping the back of her head. “Mornin,” he muttered, pulling her into a long kiss afterwards. Wrapping her arm around his neck, she smiled into the kiss, her hand pushing at his shoulder. He let himself be pushed onto his back, as Emma knew she wouldn’t have been able to do it on her own, and straddled his hips. His brow raised at the new position, but he quickly caught on as she ground her hips into him, his cock twitching to life. “So, gonna be like that this morning, huh?” Biting back a grin, she nodded her head as she leaned down to press a kiss to the hallow of his throat.

\----------

Starting late to his usual patrol around the yard wasn’t something Jacob minded, especially since it was because of a repeat of last night with Emma. What he did mind, though, was a radio call alerting him that the deputy had been seen in the Whitetails. That was one thing he could do without, and seeing as Emma was out in the forest collecting her wolves from the cabin, he had that to worry about, too. Thankfully the woman had taken a radio with her.

“Get your ass back to the compound,” Jacob all but growled into his radio. He was loading up a truck with three of his best Chosen, and two Judges, about to head out in an attempt to apprehend the deputy himself. 

“ _What, why?_ “ came a grumbled reply from Emma. 

Sighing softly, he climbed into the drivers seat of the truck before answering. “Deputy’s in the mountains. Get back to safety.” Jacob was well aware of how she didn’t like to be bossed around, but he was hoping she wouldn’t give him too much of a fight over this.

“ _Okay, okay. The wolves and I are headed back now,_ “ she assured him, an underline tone of concern clear in her voice. 

That was all Jacob needed before he started the truck, letting it roar to life before shifting it into drive. “Watch for her, and keep her safe,” he ordered one of his men at the gate before speeding off. Emma wouldn’t be happy to learn he was gone, but he needed to do this. He had to capture the deputy before anyone else was killed by him. He couldn’t lose his brothers or Faith to him. He couldn’t lose Emma. That thought alone made him speed up, his hand gripping the steering wheel tight. 

It was almost thirty minutes after Jacob left that Emma arrived back at St. Francis, her wolves, as well as Marcus and Nero, walking along with her. It was an interesting sight to see her surrounded by the wolves. No sooner had she entered the gate was she approached by one of the Chosen that guarded it. This, of course, had her concerned almost immediately since no one ever came up to her. That and she had expected to see Jacob first. Finding out he had left made her frown, a knot of worry building in the pit of her stomach. 

While she headed inside, the wolves wandered the courtyard, lazing in the sun away from the cages. Heading to Jacob’s office, Emma decided the best place to wait for his return would be the balcony. There she’d be alone, out of the way, and it was a great place to relax in the sun. She made sure to keep her radio by her side, wanting to make sure that if he radioed her, she’d hear it. Figuring he’d be back within a few hours, she wasn’t too overly concerned about things. She still didn’t like it, but Jacob could handle himself and she just had to get over it.

A few hours turned into nearly eight.

Throughout the day Emma had wandered around St. Francis, discovering new rooms and exploring the courtyard more. And now, with the sun beginning to set, she could hear a truck approaching quickly from her spot on the front steps of the building. She could see the truck coming up the long drive and stood, her front teeth nibbling on the tip of her tongue. A feeling in her gut told her something was off. There were only two people in the truck, a Chosen driving and Jacob in the passenger seat, and that right there told her something was wrong with him. Jacob always drove, even when he was with his soldiers.

When the truck parked, Emma quickly trotted over to it, her eyes widening when she could finally see the blood that covered the two men. “Jacob!” she gasped out, immediately going towards his door. 

“M’fine, Sweetheart,” he grunted out, groaning softly as he hauled himself out of the truck. His hand was pressed tightly to his side, blood seeping out between his fingers from a gunshot wound.

“You are not fine!” she snapped, her eyes looking him over for any other wounds. So far it seemed most of the blood wasn’t his, but that still didn’t stop her from worrying about his side. “You’ve been shot, you moron!” From the corner of her eye she could see a few of his men give her a quick glance, clearly not use to someone calling Jacob a moron and living.

“Hadn’t noticed,” he huffed out, an amused look in his eyes. 

Shooting him a pointed look, Emma grabbed his free hand and tugged him along after her, leading him to the now waiting medics. This also made his men glance their way since large, six foot three Jacob Seed was being pulled by a small, five foot six Emma. It was quite the sight, and if they knew they wouldn’t be killed for it, some would even laugh at it. “Now’s not the time to be a smart ass,” she grumbled out, a pout on her face. “At least tell me the deputy is dead,” she basically pleaded while glancing back at him. She heard him sigh and watched as he simply shook his head. 

“Got away. Had quite a bit of help from the resistance. Managed to shoot him, but I doubt it’ll stop him.” Jacob stopped, despite Emma still attempting to move him, and pulled her back towards him. “We’ll get him,” he promised her. “We’ll get him and you won’t have to worry about watching over your shoulder while your in the forest.” 

Laying a hand in the middle of his chest, she looked up at him with a frown on her face, worry clear in her eyes. “I’m far more concerned about you, Jacob. You’re the one fighting him. I’m worried about Joseph and John and Faith. I’m worried about--.” Before she could list off more of her worries, he had pressed a kiss to her lips, something she melted in to. 

“Like I said,” he mumbled against her lips, “we’ll get him. Trust me.”

And she did. She trusted him more than she thought she’d ever trust a person, but it didn’t stop the nagging feeling in the back of her mind that something bad was going to happen.


	9. Tragedy

Everyday Venus’ belly grew bigger and bigger, and with it grew Emma’s excitement. While she was entirely sure how far along the wolf was in her pregnancy, she knew Venus had to be getting close to her due date. “Just think,” she chirped, a grin on her face as looked up at Jacob. “We’re gonna have little pups running around soon!” It wasn’t often she saw the man smile, in fact she could probably count on one hand how many times she’d seen it, but it was with that news that she saw it. That tiny smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth, his face softening for a brief moment. He’d never say it aloud, but he was excited for the new arrivals as well.

Now the wolves were out hunting, minus Nero and Marcus. They were with Emma and Jacob, who sat at his desk, a broken down pistol in front of her. He was slowly trying to teach her how to fire a gun, something she fought tooth and nail against, and decided to have her learn how to clean one first. This she accepted. She still didn’t like the things, but she was willing to learn about them and, in time, possibly learn to shoot one.

“Now put it back together, like I showed you,” Jacob instructed, watching over her as she slowly pieced the pistol back together. He had already taught her the basic rules of a gun, like never point it at someone unless you planned to shoot them. He already knew she wouldn’t do such a thing, but that rule couldn’t be stressed enough. “There, good,” he praised her with a smirk, something that immediately got her to smile proudly as she held the pistol up for him to see. “I knew you could do it.”

Glancing at the clock, Jacob was soon scooting his chair back to stand, stretching his back out as he did so. “Joe will be here soon.” This had Emma perking up as she, too, stood up. The brothers had business to discuss, and a much needed catch up, but she was excited for whatever new story Joseph would have for her. They seemed to be unlimited, which was good for her as she loved to see the three of them in a different, more innocent light. It was refreshing, especially as the project waged a war with the resistance. They all needed a good smile and laugh now and then during such a thing.

Deciding to wait for the middle Seed outside, Emma sat on the front steps and breathed in the crisp mountain air. “What’s wrong with them?” she finally asked after watching Marcus and Nero as they paced in circles, their ears back, a frown on her face. Jacob was just as curios as she was as he looked over at his wolves, his head tilted to the side. Something had to be wrong for them to be so bothered, but what? Neither of them got to think on it much before they heard a car approaching, Joseph sitting in the passenger seat. The car was just entering the gate when Pax sprinted in front of it, making the driver slam on the brakes to avoid hitting her. Her tawny coat was stained red, and instantly Emma felt her blood run cold.

The young wolf had barely even stopped in front of Emma before she was tugging frantically at her pant leg, whining and whimpering loudly. By now Joseph’s car was parked and the man was getting out, a worried look on his face as he looked over the bloody wolf. Even Jacob looked concern, especially once he noticed that some of the blood was indeed hers from a bullet wound to her scruff.

“Shit, Pax, what happened?!” Emma asked in a panic, her eyes wide as she went to kneel down next to her. The wolf wasn’t going to have that though, and simply started to tug at her pant leg harder, urging her human to fallow her. “Okay, okay!” she gasped out, her eyes looking up at Jacob briefly. He wouldn’t like it, but she was going to fallow Pax wherever it was she wanted her to go. 

“Emma--” he began, only to be stopped short by a harsh glare from the smaller woman next to him. 

“I’m going whether you like it or not.”

Heaving a sigh, Jacob look to his brother then back to Emma, an unsure look in his eye. “Fine, take this, and the boys, with you,” he relented, handing her his radio before he watched as she and the three wolves took off. Turning to his brother, he was greeted by a large frown and sighed. He didn’t like this and knew nothing good was going to come from it.

“Pax, I can’t… You gotta slow down!” Emma cried out, her chest heaving as she chased after the wolf. Pax was sprinting for dear life and she simply could not keep up. Marcus and Nero flanked her, ever on guard as they ran with her. She wasn’t sure just how long they’d been fallowing the tawny wolf, but already she could feel her legs ache, her lungs burning as she tried to breath. But she never stopped or slowed down, she pushed herself to go as quickly as she could. Her pack was in danger and she had to get to them.

Deeper and deeper into the forest they went, over logs and through the thicket, until finally they reached a small clearing. Pax suddenly stopping made Emma stumble to a stop as well, her chest heaving as she attempted to catch her breath. It was all lost, however, as she finally took in the scene before her, tears welling up in her eyes. Blood covered the ground, a large pool of it surrounding a limp Finn who lay on his side, multiple bullet wounds littering his body. Dixon was laying on his belly, blood coating his hind end from a bullet wound on his left back leg. His head perked up once he saw Emma and he slowly stood, limping over to her as he whined low in his throat.

She spotted Roman next, his dark fur matted with blood from a shot to his front right leg. He stood before a limp Venus, her chest slowly raising and falling, her brilliant white coat stained red from a shot to her chest and belly. “No,” Emma whimpered out, tears streaming down her face as she raced to first check Finn out, falling to her knees beside him. Laying a gentle hand on him, she pressed an ear to his chest, a sob wracking her body when she couldn’t hear a heartbeat. Realizing she had to check Venus as well, she staggered to her feet and rushed over to the pregnant wolf, her hands scrambling as she tried to staunch the bleeding. 

“Come on, girl, you can’t leave me, too,” she cried out. Watching her shift her head, Emma was soon cradling it in her hands as she smoothed a hand through her fur. There wasn’t anything she could do and she knew it. Even if she radioed Jacob, she knew he’d never get to them in time. So she did the only thing she could do and held Venus close, murmuring gentle words to her as she cried.

\----------

Jacob and Joseph both stood at the gates of St. Francis, watching vigilantly in the direction Emma had run off. In Jacob’s hands was a radio, his knuckles turned white with how hard he was gripping the poor thing. It had been nearly an hour and a half since she had fallowed Pax into the forest, and already he’d sent out two hunting parties after her. Multiple scenarios rant through his head, all of them gruesome, and he soon found himself pacing. What was worse was she wasn’t answering her damn radio.

“Brother, she will return,” Joseph spoke up from behind him, but even he had clear concern in his voice. “She’s smart, a survivor, and she has a pack of wolves with her.” Although he was trying to calm his brothers nerves, it sounded as if he was trying to assure himself as well. 

Shaking his head, Jacob glanced back at his brother with a scowl. “Something’s wrong, very wrong. She should have been back by now. She should be answering her radio. She--” He was cut off by Joseph stepping up to him to lay a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. 

“ _Sir, no sign of her yet_ ,” his radio crackled out, and instantly he found himself swallowing hard.

“Copy…” he replied shortly after, his eyes going to the tree line once more. He was about to head out himself. From beside him watched his brother, a small smile on Joseph’s face despite the situation. Never had he seen his older brother so enamored by someone. Never had he seen him so, dare he say, in love with someone in such a way. It was something Joseph had always hoped and wanted for his brother, and now he finally had it. Now she just had to come back safely.

The sound of snapping twigs could be heard coming from the tree line and immediately both brothers took a step forward, their eyes landing on Emma as she slowly emerged from the thicket with the wolves in tow. Although covered in blood, she seemed no worse for wear. In her arms was her jacket, bundled up and held close to her chest, her head down as she staggered towards them. Jacob trotted over to her, about to demand why she hadn’t been answering her radio, when he noticed something off about the scene before him. Only five wolves were fallowing her. Finn and Venus were missing.

“Emma,” he called out, his voice rough. He saw her pick her head up and bit his cheek when he noticed her swollen, puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks. Once she’d reached him, before he could say a thing to her, she broke down with a sob, a fresh wave of tears pouring from her eyes. She whimpered out his name, her forehead pressed against his chest, hand clutching his shirt as she cried into it. At a loss, Jacob rested his hands on her shoulders, a frown etched onto his face as he looked down at the woman clinging to him. He wasn’t exactly good at the whole comforting thing.

“I couldn’t save them,” she finally spoke, her voice muffled by his chest. Heaving in a heavy breath, she pulled away from him, her lower jaw quivering as she glanced up at him. “But I could save these two,” she whispered out. Pulling part of her jacket back, she revealed the two pups wrapped up in it, soft whimpers leaving them as soon at the cold air hit them. They were healthy in size, one gray and the other a brilliant white. Jacob stared down at the small pups, his eyes widening for a brief moment before he was looking back up at Emma’s face. 

“What happened?” he demanded, only to get a shake of her head as an answer. 

“Don’t know,” she mumbled out, “Pax led me to them and they already had been shot. Finn was dead when I got there, Venus died not long after. Stress made her go into labor, hence these two,” she gestured down to the pups, “but other than that… I don’t know.” Covering the two pups up before they became too cold, she peered up at Jacob, as if for guidance, and was met with a frown. 

Sighing, Jacob looked at the wolves, assessing the wounds on them. “Come on, we need to get them looked at and,” he trailed off, glancing once more at the bundle in Emma’s arms. He wasn’t too sure of what she was going to do with them. Without Venus they had little chance at surviving, and if she thought she’d raise them, well he wasn’t too sure on that either. “Come on,” he grunted, motioning for her to fallow after him as he made his way back towards the gate and his brother. 

Joseph was quick to lay his hands on Emma’s shoulders and press his forehead against hers, a saddened look on his face. “I am so sorry,” he whispered out. Getting a teary eyed smile from Emma, he walked with her and his brother back into St. Francis, a trail of bloody wolves limping after them.

\----------

After the wolves were seen by a vet and treated for their wounds, they were all given a strong pain medication and were now sleeping it off in Jacob and Emma’s room. Joseph sat, calmly, in his brothers office, watching the couple before him argue back and forth. In his arms was a blanket holding the two wolf pups, now cleaned up and dry, his hand gently stroking their tiny backs. 

“Either you send one of your men out, or I’ll go myself,” she growled out, “but I am going to get a milk replacement for them.” Emma stood before Jacob, her head tilted back as she stared up at him. “So which would you rather have?”

“I’d rather have neither,” Jacob replied with a soft snort.

“I am not letting them die, Jacob!” she cried out, her teeth grit together as she bit back some colorful words. She could see this was still something Jacob was having a hard time understanding and sighed. A sudden sadness washed over her, leaving her with a helpless look on her face as she gazed up at him. “I just lost two members of my pack, my family. I lost the other three pups that I’ll never get to know. Please, I don’t… I can’t lose them, too,” she whispered out, shoulders slumped.

“If I may, brother,” Joseph spoke up for the first time. He’d been watching them go at it for nearly ten minutes now and was finally getting a tired of Jacob’s bullheadedness. “What is the harm in sending one person out for this? The pups deserve a chance to live, do they not?” he asked with a raised brow. “Emma has suffered a great deal today, do not make her suffer more by having her watch these pups wither and die.” At his words he saw Emma give him a grateful look, clearly relieved to have someone on her side of this argument. Jacob, on the other hand, looked rather exasperated and exhausted.

Running a hand down his face, Jacob heaved a heavy sigh before finally relenting. “Fine, fine… I’ll send one of my men out to look for a replacement for them. Tell em it’s urgent, too. Alright?”

Smiling fondly up at him, Emma reached up and held his face in her hands, urging him to bend down so she could press a gentle kiss to his forehead. “Thank you,” she sighed out, beyond relieved that he was doing this for her. “Thank you,” she repeated before pressing a soft kiss to his lips. Pulling away, she smiled lovingly up at him, her thumb smoothing across his stubbly cheek. “I just want to try and raise them. If they don’t make it… they don’t make it. But at least I’ll have tried.”

Jacob was good on his word and sent out not one, but two of his men, ordering them to be quick and find as much formula as they could. He knew it would be difficult for them, but Emma and Joseph were right. The pups did deserve a chance and he’d help Emma in finding what she needed. He’d never say it out loud, but the pups were cute and he was already growing fond of them. As he promised before, he also helped Emma with names for them. He chose Remus for the white one, while she chose Maia for the dark gray one.

Joseph ended up staying later than he originally planed at St. Francis, talking with both his brother and Emma about various things, from the project to the pups. It was near sundown when he finally left to head back to his church. It was also when Jacob’s men returned with four containers of formula for Emma. She was quick to mix some up for them, knowing she had to get them fed as quickly as she could. It would be a lot of work, and tireless nights, but she knew it was well worth it to make sure they lived.

\----------

The first few days of caring for the pups had been stressful for Emma. She’d never taken care of pups before and it was all trial and error, but she was lucky to have the rest of the pack to help keep them clean and warm. It was also within those first few days that she was sure she was going to loose Remus. He didn’t want to suckle from the bottle and was growing thin and sickly, but Jacob was quick to send another one of his men out in search of supplies that allowed Emma to tube feed him. After nearly two weeks of tube feeding him did he finally accept the bottle. Then she could barely feed him fast enough.

Now, a month along, the pups where healthy and thriving. Emma was the one that fed them every couple of hours and cuddle them, getting them use to the scent and touch of a human, but that didn’t mean Jacob left them alone. Whenever he was in his office he always had one in his hand, which they fit perfectly in, and would, like clockwork, ask Emma if they were still eating well. He fretted over them in his own way and she found it incredibly endearing.

At night, while feeding them, she would sit on their bed with her back against Jacob’s chest, his arms wrapped around her waist. They would use this time to talk about anything that came to mind, and it opened up more and more from his past that Emma never knew about. He spoke some on his time in juvie, told stories of his childhood involving his brothers, and even opened up some about his time in the service. Never did he go into much detail on that one though, and never did she push him. It was a raw subject that still left him with frequent night terrors that she now helped him through.

Something Emma noticed since she’d begun to mother the pups was that Jacob couldn’t seem to keep his hands to himself. Not that he had before, but things were much more noticeable and frequent now. She almost constantly found herself pushed against a wall or bent over his desk, his cock buried deep inside her as he fucked her raw. She didn’t complain though, not at all. She found herself craving his touch more and more. While he was the one that would usually initiate something quick during the day, at night she usually started something that could, and would, last all night long for them. 

Another thing that the pups brought along with them, was more and more visits from Faith. The woman was happy to not only spend time with the adorable little babies, but she was eager to learn as much as she could about Emma. The two shared stories, and Emma quickly learned of who Faith was before the project. She learned of the other woman’s prior abuse and her addiction to drugs before she found the project and Joseph helped her get clean and helped her become who she was now. Needless to say, Emma thoroughly enjoyed having ‘girl time’ with Faith and quickly grew close to her.

John visited at times, too. Not for very long and it usually involved business that needed to be taken care of, though he still found time to enjoy the pups as well. Things had cleared up some between he and Jacob, but it was easy to tell that the youngest Seed still seemed to walk on eggshells around his older brother. He never visited when Jacob was gone either. Probably due to threats of bodily harm, but it still amused Emma to a degree. Jacob certainly wasn’t afraid to let his brother know who she belonged to, and she was just as happy to show others that Jacob belonged to her.


	10. Taken

Biting her lip, Emma glanced down at the pups in her arms and sighed softly. She had something she had to do, but there was no way she could take them with her, and leaving them alone was out of the question. Telling Pratt to watch them seemed to be the only option she had. The man had helped her care for the pups before, both by her request and on Jacob’s orders, and she knew they’d be safe with him. Despite her weariness around him still, he’d never hurt her, or the pups, and knew death would not be swift if something were to happen to either of them. 

Finding Pratt was easy enough, the man was always doing mundane tasks for Jacob whenever he wasn’t fallowing him around like a lost puppy. “Pratt!” she called out, trotting over to him carefully, “I need you to watch them,” she stated while handing him the pups. He began to stutter out a question, but she was quick to shush him. “Just watch them, alright? The others are in the courtyard, keep an eye on them, too.” Turning away from the nervous man, she heard him call out to her quietly and paused, glancing over her shoulder at him. 

“You’re not leaving, are you?” he asked while glancing around the room. “Jacob won’t--”

“Jacob doesn’t need to know, now does he?” she hissed out. The man in question was currently away from the veteran’s center, down at Joseph’s compound helping him with whatever it was he needed. She had opted to stay put and watch the pups, but honestly she needed to go out and find something for herself. “Just watch them and keep your mouth shut.” After getting Pratt’s word he’d stay quiet, she hurried out of the center and found a truck. She’d have to be quick, and she’d have to be quiet. She thought, briefly, on taking one of the wolves with her, but decided against it. She didn’t want to risk their lives should something happen while she was out.

Hauling herself into the truck, she glanced around to make sure no one had spotted her. The hardest part would be going through the gate. Putting the hood of her jacket up, she decided that hid her face well enough and started the truck, her lip caught between her teeth as she started out of the compound. So far no one seemed to realize it was her. Holding her breath, she drove through the gate quickly and exhaled loudly, her eyes constantly glancing in the rearview mirror. So far, so good. Now she just had to find a store that wasn’t totally torn apart.

While she wasn’t quite sure how long she drove, Emma knew for sure that the clock was ticking and she was running out of time. Jacob had left not ten minutes before she had and she knew, if she was lucky, she’d have at least three hours to get her task done. She knew she shouldn’t be leaving. That she should just ask one of Jacob’s men to do this, but she couldn’t help but think that word would get back to him before she had a chance to find out if her hunch was something real or not. 

She was late and had been getting sick the past couple of days, and while she had a feeling as to what was going on, she needed to be sure. Hence her little adventure out now. And the last thing she needed was for one of Jacob’s soldiers running their mouth off to another and it somehow getting back to the man himself. He didn’t need to get worried over a false alarm. So, with that in mind, she drove on, determined to get to the bottom of her current ailment. 

 

==========

Being seen wasn’t something Emma had wanted. She had been so careful, too. She had stayed quiet, stuck to the shadows, and stayed low as she searched a convenience store for what she needed. But she was still stumbled upon. And worse, it was by two people who didn’t belong to the project. Now she stood just a stone throw away from her truck, with two strange people talking to her as if they could help her. From what she wasn’t entirely sure, the project probably. They most likely thought she was some lost soul who needed the resistance’s help.

“Just tell us who you are,” the black woman asked calmly, her tone gentle. She was a beautiful woman with a calm air around her, but Emma knew she’d wouldn’t hesitate to shoot her if she let slip who she really was and who she had ties to. So she stayed quiet, her eyes wide as she looked between her and the man next to her. He was a bit of an odd one it seemed. He wore jeans, a simple black and green hoodie, and a baseball cap, but the way he spoke and his mannerisms left her wondering where exactly he’d come from. He didn’t seem like the brightest in all honesty.

“Look, we’re not gonna hurt you,” the woman spoke again, making Emma’s eye flick back over to her. She wore fatigues, an American flag scarf, a bulletproof vest, and a simple cap, but something in her eyes told her she was sharp and quick witted. It made Emma wonder how she’d paired up with the man. “Just tell us your name, we can help you,” she promised. Still she stayed quiet, swallowing hard as she shifted on her feet. She had to get out of here, maybe even radio Jacob…

She was going to be in so much shit when she got back. If she got back.

“Really, I don’t need help, I just… I should go,” Emma gestured over her shoulder towards her truck while taking a step back, her gaze shifting between the man and the woman. 

When the man took a step forward she stopped, glaring at him as he slung his shotgun over his shoulder. “You’re not gonna wanna go too far on your own. Those fucking Peggies are everywhere.”

“Sharky’s right. You may be good with a knife,” the woman said while gesturing to the blade strapped to Emma’s thigh, “but they’ve got guns and they won’t hesitate to shoot you. Come with us and we can get you somewhere safe.”

Emma had to stop herself from scoffing by biting her tongue, hard. She knew no where they took her would be ‘safe’. Not by any means. Any place the resistance was, was dangerous and they’d all happily kill her, or worse, if they knew she was important to Jacob. “No, really, I’ve been on my own for a while now. They, the cult, they haven’t bothered me at all,” she said with a lopsided smile. She wished she could take back her words instantly. The look the woman gave her made her frown and swallow hard, her brows furrowing in concern. 

Taking a step forward, Emma watched as the woman tilted her head to the side. “They leave you be? If you’re not with them, you’re against them, and they don’t like when someone is against them.”

Opening her mouth to speak, to defend herself, Emma was cut off by a new voice that came from behind her. 

“I know her,” a man said, his voice rough and deep. It sent a chill down her spine, and not in a good way. 

Whipping around, Emma’s eyes widened when she laid eyes on the deputy, her breath catching in her throat. “You shot me…” she mumbled out, her voice quivering. 

“Dep did?” the other man, Sharky, asked, clearly confused. “Dep doesn’t shoot anyone unless they’re… oh man. Are you with the cult? That’s why they don’t bother you!” he accused, causing her eyes to widen as she shot a look over her shoulder at him. 

“No!” she snapped out, feeling cornered with the three strangers now surrounding her. “I’m not with them! I live in the damn forest with wolves, that’s why they leave me alone.” she growled out, her head turning constantly as she tried to keep an eye on all of them. “Now leave me be!” She really needed to get out of here now.

The deputy took a step forward, his eyes narrowed in a deadly glare as he looked down at her with a sneer. “Then how come I’ve seen you with that psychopath Jacob Seed?”

The question made her mouth go dry and her eye widen. “What?” she asked in a strained whisper.

“That’s right. I’ve seen you with him before, driving down to Joseph’s church. Seemed pretty happy with him, too.”

Shit.

In an attempt to get away, Emma turned and sprinted to the side, but she quickly felt a sudden weight on her back and fell forward, face first, into the asphalt of the road. Now, with a busted lip and bruised face, she struggled beneath the weight of the deputy, kicking and thrashing. Try as she might, nothing she did helped her in anyway and soon she found herself in a headlock, the deputy’s forearm pressing against her throat. “No..!” she gagged out, her nails clawing at his arm. From the corner of her eye she could see the other two standing behind them, watching impassively, as she was slowly choked. “H-help…” she pleaded breathlessly, begging them to try and intervene. Instead they looked away from her.

Finding it harder and harder to breath, Emma began to slow down in her struggles as the corners of her vision darkened. In one, last ditch effort she threw her head back, catching the deputy in the face and breaking his nose with a satisfying crunch, but all he did was tighten his hold on her until finally it all went black.

\----------

Waking up alone on the cold, concrete floor of a storage closet wasn’t exactly what Emma expected. She’d expected the deputy to just kill her, instead it seemed he just brought her along with him to… well she didn’t really know. With a soft moan, she tried to raise her hand to cradle her aching head, but found her hands to be tied behind her back. Shifting, she soon realized that her ankles were tied as well. Taking in deep, steady breaths, she tried not to panic as her eyes darted around the room, taking in everything that was in there. Surely something could help her free herself. Instead she found shelves with boxes stacked on them, but more disturbingly, she found a kiddie pool with chair sitting in the middle of it. A battery sat on a table right next to it.

Finally beginning to panic, Emma let out a soft whimper as she wiggled around, trying to push herself onto her knees. It didn’t work. “Shit,” she huffed out, her chest raising and falling rapidly. “Shit, shit, shit!” she whispered out harshly, tears of frustration and fear now beginning to well up in her eyes. She was a good as dead now. Hearing voices coming closer caused her to freeze, her eyes now trained on the door in front of her.

“I’m telling you, Eli, you should just kill her,” a woman snapped out.

“I’m not killing her, Tammy,” ‘Eli’ replied before unlocking and opening the door to her improvised prison. “Ah, she’s finally awake.” Stepping towards her, he watched as Emma scooted away from him as best she could, her back soon meeting the wall behind her. “Come on now, I’m not gonna hurt you,” he tried to assure her. The woman behind him scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest. 

Now, with narrowed eyes, Emma stared up at him with her teeth bared. “I don’t like being lied to,” she growled. “I’m here for a reason, and what other reason is there than to hurt me?”

Eli sighed heavily and knelt before her, an exhausted look in his eye. “I’m not gonna hurt you. Wasn’t going to even from the beginning, but after finding this,” he pulled a small, long box from his back pocket, “I’m definitely not gonna hurt you.” Emma stared, wide eyed and terrified, at the box in his hands, the blood draining from her face. “You take one yet, or will this be the first one?”

At first Emma wasn’t going to answer, too afraid of what would truly happen if she did, but finally she whispered out an answer. “First one,” she replied shakily, her lower jaw quivering. She saw him nod his head and shift so that he was reaching towards her and instantly panic set in once more. Wiggling further into the wall, she noticed him pause and raise his hands towards her in a peaceful gesture, but she still eyed him warily. 

“Like I said, I’m not gonna hurt you. I’m going to untie your legs, alright? You kick me, and I’ll tie you right back up.” Seeing Emma curl into herself more, he sighed and reached for her ankles once more, slowly untying the bindings around them. After making sure she wouldn’t kick him, he stood and grabbed her arm to help haul her up. “Come on, you’re going to take this and find out,” he declared while tugging her along. The woman, Tammy, stuck close to them, her eyes watching Emma like a hawk for any signs she might try to dart off. Like she’d even know where to go.

Being led through a bunker, Emma was soon shoved into a bathroom and slowly turned, staring up at Eli with a frown etched on her face. “I can’t do anything with my hands tied up…” she muttered, making him sigh once more. She turned when he gestured for her to and stood, stock still, as he untied the ropes around her wrists. Thoughts of fighting against them once free ran through her mind, but she wasn’t stupid enough to try. She had seen the guns that both Eli and Tammy had on their hips. Feeling the ropes come off, the first thing she did was gently rub her wrists, noting the red, raw marks on both of them.

“Dep was a little rough when he brought you here,” Eli spoke up behind her, sounding almost apologetic. “Now, come on. Take this,” he ordered while handing her the box. Seeing her flush as she took it made him raise a brow at her, but he soon understood as she meekly asked if he was going to be watching her. “Can’t risk it, kid,” he answered with a shake of his head. “Would having a woman watch you be better?”

Emma shook her head quickly, deciding she preferred to be watched by Eli rather than Tammy. She looked about ready to gut her at any moment. So, instead, she breathed in deep and went over to the toilet, shaky hands pulling the little white pregnancy test out of its box as she went.

After peeing on the little stick, she was led back to her little prison and left there, unbound. She curled up in the corner, her knees pulled up to her chest as she tried to make herself as small as possible. It seemed like forever before both Eli and Tammy came back into the room, an expression on both their faces that she couldn’t quite make out. 

In his hand, Eli held the pregnancy test, his lips pulled into a thin line. “Dep said he’d see you up close to Jacob, so do we even have to ask who the father is?” His question made Emma’s heart skip a beat, her eyes growing wide as she stared up at him, terrified. That alone was enough for him to know the answer. “So, it is Jacob, huh?” he asked with a shake of his head. “Can you at least tell me it was forced?”

Instantly Emma saw red, her eyes narrowing as she now glared at Eli. “He would never do that! He’s a good man, he would never force me!” she snarled out. 

From behind him came a snort, and soon she found Tammy stepping forward, a deadly look in her eyes. “A good man? Does a good man kill and brainwash people? Does a good man use live men and women as target practice for his troops? Does a good man let people starve and die in his fucking cages?” she asked while slowly advancing on Emma. “Jacob Seed is a sick son of a bitch and is far from a good man. He’s a damn monster!” 

Shaking her head, Emma curled up further into a ball, her arms wrapped around her belly protectively. She wasn’t about to let this woman hurt her baby. “You’re the monsters!” she cried out, “you’re the ones that kill people just because you don’t believe Joseph! You kill innocent people! You kidnapped me and are holding me prisoner in a god damn storage closet!” 

Tammy stood before her, eerily calm, and she swallowed hard. “He’s really got you fooled, doesn’t he? You know he’s just using you, right? He lied about what he does, what that fucking cult does, and for what? Well, I have no doubt it’s to make sure you carry the next line of Seeds for their ‘new world’.”

Emma shook her head, refusing to believe a word the other woman said. “You’re lying again,” she mumbled out. “Jacob’s a good man, he’s not using me. He protects me, like he does his family, and he’d never use me…” she croaked out.

Laughing humorlessly, Tammy shook her head in disbelief. “He tell you he loved you? Or is he just a good fuck, hm?”

“Tammy, that’s enough,” Eli spoke up, his hand reaching out to grip her shoulder and pull her back. When she opened her mouth to protest, he simply shook his head and motioned for her to leave, which she did with a huff. Once the door closed behind her, he turned his attention back to Emma and frowned. “She’s right, you know. Everything he’s ever told you, is a lie.”

“I know a good man when I see one. Jacob is one. You’re not,” Emma snipped.

“I guess you are too far gone,” he said softly, his eyes downcast. “That’s a shame.” Turning away from her, he headed for the door, but paused to glance over his shoulder at her. “We’ll figure out what to do with you later. As for now, well… sit tight.” With that he left, the lock clicking deafeningly once the door was shut.


	11. Escape

Leaving Emma behind at St. Francis left an odd feeling in Jacob’s gut. She’d wanted to stay behind with the pups, and that he could understand, but it still wasn’t like her. Even with the pups she’d go along to Joseph’s compound. She always brought them along so that Joseph could fawn over them. Same with John and Faith if they happened to be there as well. Something was just off and he didn’t like it. With a shake of his head, he focused on the road before him and tried to shake off the unnerve he felt. He was simply over thinking things, that’s all. There wasn’t anything wrong and he was worrying over nothing. Right? Right.

“ _Sir! Ms. Rogers, she’s gone_!” his radio suddenly crackled out, the soldier’s voice panicked and quick. The call caused Jacob to jolt, having been so caught up in his thoughts, and immediately grab for his radio. 

“What the hell do you mean ‘she’s gone’?” he growled low in his throat, his eyes narrowing.

“ _We were informed by Pratt that she’d left, Sir_ ,” the man replied nervously.

With a curse, Jacob was soon dialing in Emma’s frequency and calling out to her, growling once more when he was met by silence. “Damn it!” Pressing the button once more, he all but shouted her name, but once again was met by nothing but deafening silence. She had to have her radio, she never left without one, and she had to have it on her person. So why the hell wasn’t she answering? A feeling of dread filled him as he finally slammed on the breaks, his heart beginning to pound in his chest. Something was definitely wrong.

Making a quick U-turn, Jacob sped back to St. Francis, one hand white knuckling the steering wheel while the other gripped his radio tight. “And no one saw this?! How could you not notice her leaving!” Speeding along, he knew there were far too many miles between he and the veteran’s center and knew any trace of Emma would be gone by the time he got back. “Damn it!” he cursed again, his teeth grit. He should have listened to his gut feeling. Should have insisted she come with him. Or simply threw her over his shoulder. “Are the wolves still there?” he suddenly asked, a fear creeping up spine that she’d left all together. It wouldn’t happen, he _knew_ it wouldn’t happen, but he couldn’t help but feel it.

 

“ _Yes, Sir. All are accounted for._ ” 

Some relief washed over him at this reply. She hadn’t left him. But just what the hell was she thinking? She knew if she needed anything she could order one of his men to get it, so there wasn’t any reason she should be out at all. “Fucking hell, Emma…”

As soon as Jacob was back at St. Francis, he parked his truck and stormed into the building, immediately setting out in search for Pratt. The man in question was being held in Jacob’s office, two Chosen guarding him at gun point. He looked about ready to piss himself, but the moment Jacob walked in, he was pretty sure he actually did. Just as he was about to shove Pratt against the wall and demand answers, he noticed the pups in his arms and sneered, his eyes narrowed into slits as he glared at him. “Tell me, right now, where she went,” he seethed out, his hands clenching into fists. 

Nervously shifting on his feet, Pratt visibly shook as he looked up at Jacob. “She didn’t tell me, I swear! She left without telling me. Just handed me the pups and left!” he spilled out in a panic. “S-She made me swear not to tell, but I had to and I told a guard not long after she left.”

Watching Pratt closely, Jacob could tell the man was telling the truth, but it didn’t make it any easier for him. Thoughts ran wild in his head and none of them made any sense. “Alright, I want two teams spread out searching for her,” he ordered his men after a moments thought. “And I want the best of the Judges with them. Leave no stone unturned.” He watched as they ran out of the room before turning his attention back to Pratt. “I’ll deal with you later. Watch them and make sure nothing happens to them,” he said while pointing at the pups. Jacob knew Pratt was good with them and knew he was the only one capable and willing to watch over them right now. 

Stalking out of the building, he watched as his men assembled and took off, and ran a hand down his face. He was at a loss, and despite how hard he tried to hide it, he was sure it showed. Grabbing his radio once again, he dialed in his brother and called out to him, knowing his voice would surely give away that something was wrong. And he was right. Joseph answered almost immediately, his voice full of concern. “Emma’s gone, Joe. Don’t know where, so keep an eye out for her.” It was silent on his brothers end for a moment before he finally posed a question that had him rolling his eyes. 

“ _Did the two of you fight?_ ”

“No, we didn’t,” he huffed out. In fact the two of them had just gotten done fucking before he had left for Joseph’s church. “She would have taken the wolves with her, but they’re still here.” As if on cue, Pax slunk over to him, her head low. Reaching down, he ran a hand trough her fur before scratching behind her ear. He had a feeling they were just as confused as he was. “I have no idea what the hell this is about,” he finally sighed out, his eyes glancing in the direction of the other wolves as they slowly crept towards him. Ever since Finn and Venus were killed, Emma loathed being away from the wolves, always fretting over them whenever they went out to hunt. Even when they were just sun bathing in the courtyard she constantly had to peek out at them to check in on them.

“ _Perhaps she decided to fallow you down to my church?_ ”

Biting his tongue, Jacob thought it over before shaking his head. “No. She’s not answering her radio. Besides, she left the pups here, and I know she would have taken them down with her. She knows how much you love seeing them.” Which was true, Joseph loved to see them. He constantly fretted over them and held them whenever he got the chance. Hell, he even held Remus during one of his sermons once.

“ _I’m at a loss, brother. I haven’t the faintest idea as to why she would leave then…_ ” By the sounds of it, Joseph was now pacing, his footsteps echoing in his church. “ _Has she been acting odd at all?_ ”

“She…” Jacob started only to pause, his eyes narrowing as he thought. “She’s been off the past few days. Usually she’s chatting my ear off, but for the past couple days she’s been… quiet.” he murmured, wracking his brain as he tried to think of what could be bothering her. “Been picky about what she ate, too. Normally she’ll eat whatever you put in front of her, but not lately.” It was quiet on Joseph’s side for a long moment, which didn’t help ease Jacob’s nerves any, before finally his radio crackled to life once more.

“ _I have see the marks on her before, brother. I know you two didn’t wait until marriage. Is it possible she's expecting?_ ”

Joseph’s question left Jacob speechless for the longest time, his eyes wide as he stared down at the radio. He didn’t want to say it, or believe it, but it was entirely possible she was pregnant. And now he had to worry about getting not only Emma back, but the child she was possibly carrying, too. “Shit, Joe, we gotta find her.” There was no doubt in his mind that if she was caught, the enemy would happily use her as leverage against him. But now, if she really was pregnant, he feared she’d simply be killed. “Shit!” he cursed under his breath, now heading over to another one of his soldiers. “I want three more teams out there,” he barked out, scaring the hell out of the man who had been facing away from him. 

Watching as his soldier scurried off to rally more troops, Jacob stood there, watching his men run around as they prepared themselves. He had to send out his best, and he’d keep sending them out until she was found. He wasn’t about to let her become a pawn in a war she should never have been involved in in the first place. It took him a moment, but he finally heard a voice calling out to him and realized it was Joseph once more. 

“ _Jacob, god will not allow her to be harmed. I know she will be found, alive and well._ ”

Jacob now wanted to throttle his brother, groaning out in exasperation as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Now was not the time for any of that. He didn’t want to hear that god would bring her back safely, because he knew it would be he or his men that did it. He didn’t want to hear that god wouldn’t allow harm to befall her, because he knew that was a lie. There was no way she hadn’t been harmed already. The resistance was ruthless and uncaring, they would see her as just another member of the project-- No, they’d see her as Jacob’s and treat her with nothing but hatred. 

“ _Trust me._ ”

Jacob trusted his brother, but he knew the reality of the situation and knew Emma was in grave danger. He trusted his brother with many things, but this wasn’t one of them. Joseph could assure him until he was blue in the face, but it’d all be for naught. 

And when one night of her missing turned into two, and then three, he trusted Joseph’s word about god even less.

\----------

Sitting in her storage closet, Emma glanced up when she heard footsteps approaching. So far they kept her fed(although it was mostly scraps) and provided her with a scratchy blanket and pillow. Eli had, so far, kept his word on not harming her, although Tammy still looked ready to shoot her dead. The young kid, Wheaty, was weary of her, too. He was the one that was usually in charge of giving her food and water, but never tended to do more than open the door, slide the tray in, and quickly shut the door once more. No one paid much attention to her. The only prolonged interaction she got was whenever Eli led her to the bathroom.

The door opened and in stepped Eli, a grim look on his face. Immediately she feared the worst, thoughts of him pulling a gun on her and killing her rushing through her head. They’d kept her here for three days now after all. Surely they wouldn’t just keep her here forever. Instead he looked down at her and sighed, a tired look in his eye.

“Jacob’s been sending his troops out, nonstop, searching for you. The forest is all but swarming with his Chosen and their Judges,” he informed her with a soft tsk. “Lost a lot of good people to them, too. More so than usual. So here’s what you’re gonna do, you’re gonna tell him to call them off. No more search parties, or you get hurt,” he said all while pulling a radio off his belt.

Emma snorted softly and pulled her scratchy, little blanket closer to her, now wrapped up like a burrito, in an attempt to keep warm. The damn closet she was kept in was freezing. “You said you weren’t going to hurt me, remember? Or have you changed you mind?” She watched as Eli knelt down to her level, her eyes narrowing into a glare as she watched him closely.

“Never said I’d be the one hurting you,” he said with a shrug, now holding the radio closer to her. 

Laughing humorlessly, she shook her head while glancing away from him. “So you’d actually let your people harm a pregnant woman regardless what side she may be on? Classy. And you say you’re the good guys.”

Growling softly, Eli gave her a pointed look, his lips pulled back in a sneer. “And how many pregnant woman has the cult killed?”

“Does it matter? You’re the ones always going on about how much better you are than the project, but this right here proves you’re not.” With an idea forming in her head, Emma slowly reached for the radio, only to have Eli stop her. He ordered her once more to tell Jacob to call off his troops and she rolled her eyes. “What the hell do you think I’m doing? I’m not about to let you hurt my baby, so give me the damn radio.” Once it was in her hands, she dialed in the number she now knew by heart and, with shaky hands, raised it to her mouth and pressed the button. “Jacob? Jacob, you there?” she called out, her tone much softer than she’d meant. It took a moment, but soon a voice she loved came through loud and clear.

“ _Emma?_ ” 

Hearing Jacob’s deep voice for the first time in days nearly made her cry, but she held strong. She wouldn’t show weakness to Eli. He wasn’t worth it.

“ _Emma, where the hell are you?_ ” His voice was rough, but she could hear the underlying tone of worry and even desperation.

Swallowing hard, she looked up at Eli once before focusing on the little radio in her hands once more. Her plan would either go really, really well, or really, really bad. “Your troops, Jacob,” she started, only to pause as her nerves finally caught up to her. “Tell them… Eli has m--” The radio being ripped from her hands interrupted her, but the damage was done. Jacob knew where she was now and that was all that mattered. She watched as Eli quickly turned the radio off, his eyes soon flicking up to meet hers as he glared dangerously at her. 

“You stupid…” he started, only to stop and sigh sharply through his nose. “Jacob has no idea where this bunker is, you know. You telling him I have you won’t help you in any way.”

Shaking her head, she looked at him with a lopsided smile on her face. “He may not know exactly, but he has ideas. Trust me, I’ve seen his maps. He’ll have his men swarm those areas and he won’t stop until I’m found, and you have a bullet in your head.” 

It wasn’t long until Eli left, leaving Emma alone to her own devices, which ultimately meant snooping through the boxes that were stored in her little prison. So far she had found nothing of use, just papers and even a few canned goods, but she had hope she’d stumble across something that could help her escape. Quietly opening one box, she shuffled the odds and ends around, frowning when all she found was a bunch of batteries, flashlights, and a random can opener. “Damn…” she muttered while moving onto the next box. Having searched three already, she was quickly loosing what little hope she held onto. They wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave something in there with her, but she had to keep looking. She couldn’t, and wouldn’t, just give up.

\----------

It was on day six that Emma heard the deputy’s voice just outside her prison’s door. It made her suck in a deep breath and hold it, her eyes wide as she stared at the door, preparing herself for him to enter and accost her again. But he never came in. Instead he stood out there talking to Eli about something, what she couldn’t really make out. One thing she did hear made her heart drop and tears well up in her eyes: Faith was dead. “No,” she murmured with a shake of her head. Faith couldn’t be dead, there was no way the deputy could have gotten the best of her. Choking back a sob, Emma covered her mouth with a hand as she tried to keep herself quiet. She didn’t want to alert anyone that she had heard the news, and she sure as hell didn’t want anyone to see her cry.

That night she could barely eat her meager dinner and had to all but force herself to get it all down. Hearing of Faith’s death hit her hard and it made her fear for the brother’s lives as well. She couldn’t lose them. She couldn’t lose Jacob. After finishing her dinner, Emma went through the two boxes she had left to rummage through, her heart breaking when all she found was useless crap. Magazines, flashlights, and cassette tapes wouldn’t help her any, and yet that’s all she found. Feeling defeated, she curled up on her side, her blanket wrapped around her snuggly and her head resting on her flat, little pillow. Her hope of getting out of here on her own was now gone and she had no idea what to do.

Emma wasn’t sure just how long she’d been laying there, but soon she heard footsteps and let her gaze flicker over to the door. Seeing Eli step into the room made her sigh softly, her eyes now focused on the wall once more. 

“C’mon, kid. It’s been awhile.” Eli motioned for her to stand, which took her a long moment to finally do, and took hold of her upper arm before leading her out of the room. Every few hours he’d lead her to the bathroom, having the decency of actually letting her shut the door, and then lead her back to her room. This time though, she was going to try something different. From the corner of her eye she spotted the stairs out of the bunker and swallowed hard, her hands shaking as she thought of just what she was going to do and how she was going to do it.

Okay, she thought with a deep, shaky breath, her eyes wide as she peeked over her shoulder at Eli. This would either work, or get her killed. Stopping, she felt Eli run into her and quickly threw her head back, catching him in the face. She heard the crunch of his nose breaking and spun around so that she could kick him in the groin as hard as she possibly could. The man crumpled to the ground with a shout and a groan, one hand holding his nose as the other cupped his groin. Now was her chance. 

Grabbing a radio off the table with the maps on it, she turned on her heel and immediately locked eyes with Tammy. With her heart now pounding in her chest, Emma started to sprint towards the stairs, starting up them as quickly as she could without falling flat on her face. She never saw the gun Tammy pulled on her, but she sure heard the shot fired and felt the bullet rip through her side. Yelping, she doubled her effort up the stairs and just made it to the top when another shot was fired, this time the bullet hitting her thigh. Once her feet touched dirt, Emma was off like a shot, her legs carrying her as quickly as they could. It’d been six days of little food and little movement and it left her feeling sluggish, but she pushed herself to sprint on despite that and her new wounds.

Behind her, she could hear someone fallow after her for a short time before they stopped, leaving her to run blindly into the night. It was pitch black and made it impossible for her to see anything and that led to her stumbling over rocks and roots. One root jutted out just right to catch her foot and down she went, going head over heels down a steep hill. She tried to curl in on herself as much as she could, her arms wrapped around her belly to project it, but she still got bruised up badly in the fall. When she finally came to a stop, she laid there for a brief moment, dizzy and thoroughly turned around, before she pushed herself to her feet and ran off once more. 

With her side and thigh on fire, she placed a hand over her side and winced when she felt just how badly she was bleeding. The fall hadn’t helped at all and simply made both wounds worse. And to top it all off, it felt as though she’d twisted her ankle. Once she’d finally felt like she’d run far enough, she found a grouping of trees and dove for it, hiding in the thicket as best as she could as she sat on her knees. Fumbling with her radio, she turned the frequency to Jacob’s and immediately called out to him frantically, a sob escaping her when she whimpered his name out one last time. It took but a moment before the voice she loved answered and it instantly left her crying in relief.

“ _Emma…_ ” His tone was guarded, as it he was expecting the worse. 

“Oh, god. Jacob, I-I got away! I broke his nose and,” she sobbed, her eyes squeezed shut, “I got away. I don’t know where I am though.” 

“ _What’s around you? There’s got to be a landmark you recognize._ ” On his side of the radio it sounded as if he was rushing around, undoubtedly going to his maps on the wall in his office.

Shaking her head, Emma looked all around her with bleary eyes. “It’s too dark, Jacob. I can’t see anything…” she whimpered out.

“ _There’s got to be a road sign, a building, something around you. You gotta look, Sweetheart._ ”

Swallowing hard, she forced herself to stand and winced, her hand grabbing at her thigh. Blood oozed between her fingers, something that made her swallow once more. She had to find something and get help or she’d bleed out. Stumbling along, she soon found a dirt road and fallowed it south all while relaying to Jacob what was going on. She wasn’t sure just how long she trotted along that road, but exhaustion quickly set in and soon she was finding herself lightheaded. “Jacob, I don’t think I can do this…” she finally admitted, her pace slowing down slightly. “They shot me twice and I’m feelin’ it now.”

“ _You have to keep going. You’re strong, Emma, I know you can do this,_ ” Jacob urged her on, his tone showing now how concerned he was. She hadn’t mentioned her wounds to him before. “ _Where are you shot?_ ”

She knew he was right and trudged on. If anything the life growing inside her was enough motivation to not give up. “Side and leg…” she replied with a soft huff. “Eli’s little housewife helper shot me.” 

“ _Don’t worry, we’ll take care of her in due time,_ ” Jacob replied with a low growl. He’d string Tammy up and set his Judges on her for this. “ _Any more wounds I should know about?_ ”

“I fell down a hill and I think I twisted my ankle.” she answered with a soft groan. She couldn’t believe she’d actually took a trip down a damn hill. Walking through the night, Emma kept an eye out for any signs or buildings, but so far all she saw were trees and rocks. Wrapping her jacket closer around her, she shivered in the cold, night air. She knew she’d likely get sick from exposure, but she supposed it was good it was so cold out. It made her bleed more slowly after all. It still didn’t help matters much, though.

When she finally stumbled upon a road sign it was just past dawn, her body and movements slow from exhaustion. “Jacob,” she mumbled into her radio, a small, triumphant grin on her face as she looked at the sign in front of her. “I’m going South on a dirt road and Elk Jaw Lodge is to the East of where I am. Think you can get one of your men in a truck headed my way? Could really use a lift about now…” At this point Emma was having a hard time staying upright, though it wasn’t too much of a surprise. She’d just run and walked for several hours with two gunshot wounds. It was rather incredible she could move at all at this point. 

“ _I’ll radio my men and tell them to be on the look out for you. I’ll be there as quickly as I can._ ”

Slowly she made her way towards the lodge, spotting a white truck speeding down the road towards her only a few minutes later. At first she feared the worst, thinking it was a resistance member, but the moment she saw the red ski mask of one of Jacob’s Chosen, she calmed down. Waving her arms in the air, she flagged down the truck, sighing out heavily in relief when it stopped beside her. “Oh, thank god,” she muttered while crawling into the passenger side of the vehicle, her body slouched over as she finally relaxed. She was safe now and could finally take a breather.

The ride to Elk Jaw Lodge was silent, which didn’t bother Emma in the least, and she took the time to rest her head back. She tried her best to keep her eyes open, knowing it was for the best, but exhaustion won and she quickly found herself drifting off. Coming to long enough, she notice she was being carried into the lodge by the man who had driven the truck. Normally if anyone carried her besides Jacob she’d fight it, but this time she didn’t care. She simply fell back asleep in the man’s arms. Vaguely she recognized being laid down on a cot, her eyes still closed and her mind fuzzy, but she did manage to utter out a soft “thank you” to the man as he hurried off. Another project member soon replaced him, this one a medic who quickly went to work assessing her wounds and cleaning them.

\----------

Fingers running through her hair slowly woke Emma up, her eyes fluttering open to see her rugged, mountain man kneeling beside her. “Jacob,” she whispered out before slowly sitting up, her arms immediately wrapping themselves around his neck. Burying her face into his chest, she breathed in his scent, a smile making its way to her face when she felt his arms wrap around her carefully. 

“If you _ever_ do that again,” Jacob growled out, though his voice sounded more relieved than angry. 

With a shake of her head, Emma held him close, her eyes shut tight. “I won’t,” she whispered out softly. “I promise.” 

Sighing, Jacob pulled her away from him just enough so that he could look her in the eye, a frown pulling at his lips. “Why the hell did you even leave? You know if you need anything, you just order one my men and they’ll get it.”

Biting her lip, she glanced down briefly before meeting his intense gaze once more, a nervous expression now on her face. “I had to find something, and I was afraid of word getting back to you before I knew for sure… I didn’t want you to worry over a false alarm,” she muttered. “I had to find a test, and I didn’t want your men to jabber on to one another and have it get back to you.” Already she could see the gears working in his head and knew he knew where she was going with this. “I’m pregnant, Jacob,” she finally just blurted out.

It was in that moment Emma saw something she’d never seen before: Jacob broke. His arms crushed her to him as he buried his face in the crook of her neck, one hand holding onto the back of her head. She felt his body shudder and held him closer, her hand running up and down his back reassuringly. While she wasn’t quite sure what she expected from him when he heard the news, this wasn’t it. She was sure he’d be apprehensive and tense about it. She never would have thought the news would all but bring him to his knees.

“Jacob?” she finally murmured to him, her lips pressing a gentle kiss to the side of his head. 

Taking a deep breath, Jacob pulled away from her neck to press his forehead against hers. “You’re not leaving St. Francis without me again. You’re not leaving my sight…” he finally said in a strained voice. “You need anything, anything at all, and I, or one of my men, will get it for you. Understood?”

“Understood,” she said with a small smile and nod of her head. She wouldn’t risk anything now. There was far too much on the line and she wasn’t going to risk her child’s life. She did enough of that already in her escape from Eli and she wasn’t about to do it again. Leaning in, she kissed Jacob slowly, her eyes sliding shut as she sighed against his lips. “I love you,” she mumbled out once they’d pulled away, her eyes glancing into his as she said it. She knew he wasn’t the type of man to say those words, and she didn’t expect to hear them from him. She just wanted to get it off her chest and finally say it aloud to him. Besides, the heated kiss he gave her after was enough for her to know that he felt the same towards her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully ya'll have been enjoying this thus far, as I've thoroughly enjoyed writing it. As always, comments are loved and appreciated.


End file.
